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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry L" data-source="post: 19142140" data-attributes="member: 260809"> Sweden is on track to becoming the first cashless nation <img src="http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2015/swedenisontr.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Sweden is on its way to becoming the world's  first cashless society, thanks to the country's embrace of IT, as well  as a crackdown on organized crime and terror, according to a study from  Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology.                                                                        Niklas  Arvidsson, an industrial technology and management researcher at KTH,  says that the widespread and growing embrace of the <a href="http://phys.org/tags/mobile+payment/" target="_blank">mobile payment</a> system, Swish, is helping hasten the day when Sweden replaces cash altogether. "Cash is still an important means of payment in many countries'  markets, but that no longer applies here in Sweden," Arvidsson says.  "Our use of cash is small, and it's decreasing rapidly." In a country where bank cards are routinely used for even the  smallest purchases, there are less than 80 billion Swedish crowns in  circulation (about EUR8 billion), a sharp decline from just six years  ago, when the total in circulation was SEK106 billion. "And out of that amount, only somewhere between 40 and 60 percent is  actually in regular circulation," he says. The rest is socked away in  people's homes and bank deposit boxes, or can be found circulating in  the underground economy. The result of collaboration between major Swedish and Danish banks,  Swish is a direct payment app that is used for transactions between  individuals, in real time. The service's direct collaboration with  Bankgiro and Sweden's national bank, Riksbanken, is a critical factor in  its success. But if Swish starts to be used on a larger scale and grow to include  retail transactions and e-commerce, Arvidsson says it is likely the  country's entire payment system infrastructure will have to be revamped. That may not be as prohibitive an idea as it sounds. Arvidsson says  Swish is already revolutionizing the banking system, which itself is no  stranger to bold digital projects. With digital giro systems, early electronic payment services and  other advances in online financial services, Swedish banks have been  early adopters of advanced IT systems, he says. "Combined with a strong IT sector, this has led to more competitive  financial services in Sweden. The success also depends on the Swedish  consumer tradition of welcoming electronic payment services." Besides simplicity and lower costs, digital payments also add  transparency to the nation's payment system. Several banks in Sweden  already have 100 percent digitalized branches that will simply not  accept cash.  "At the offices which do handle banknotes and coins, the customer  must explain where the cash comes from, according to the regulations  aimed at money laundering and terrorist financing," he says. Bank staff  are required to file police reports in response to suspicious cash  transactions. In spite its popularity, Sweden will still have to ensure that all people are able to participate in the new <a href="http://phys.org/tags/payment+system/" target="_blank">payment system</a>,  Arvidsson says. The transformation would present serious challenges for  those who are unfamiliar with computers and mobile phones—mainly older  people living in rural areas. Other segments of the population likely to feel the impact are the  homeless and undocumented immigrants. In a society without notes and  coins, they will be even more at the mercy of government systems to  survive Whether cashless societies spread beyond Sweden is another question. "Swish is a brilliant idea, but to introduce it internationally is a  challenge, not least because it takes a long time to change other  countries' banking systems from scratch. But it is not impossible that a  Swish-based banking revolution can also occur abroad," Arvidsson says. source : <a href="http://phys.org/news/2015-10-sweden-track-cashless-nation.html" target="_blank">http://phys.org/news/2015-10-sweden-track-cashless-nation.html</a> <img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/happy.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Happy    :)" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/happy.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Happy    :)" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/happy.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Happy    :)" data-shortname=":)" /> </blockquote>

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