The widespread adoption of digital payment methods is leaving behind the elderly and the poorest, who are unable to adapt to technology and who are excluded from services that do not accept cash.
Across the world, cards and apps are the standard form of payment – but nowhere is the transition away from cash more obvious than in Sweden. The Bank of Sweden states that the amount of money in circulation in the country has halved since 2007.
Part of this is due to a unique Swedish law that prioritizes “freedom of contract” over any legal obligation to accept money. In other words, it is up to companies – including banks – decide whether or not to accept cash. Public transport, shops and services do not normally accept physical cash as a form of payment and there is no infrastructure for paying bills over the counter.
The transition to cashlessness accelerated when a group of banks created the Swish mobile payment application in 2012. In 2017, Sweden was using less cash than other European countries. Currently, more than 80% of the population has a Swish account.
For most Swedes, the cashless economy It’s quick and comfortable. As long as you have a bank account and can access technology, you’re probably already living a cashless life. But for the few people who still rely on cash, life is getting harder.
A recent one shows how this affects the most disadvantaged groups in Sweden’s cashless society. The interviewees live in a situation of poverty-induced cash dependencymeaning they rely on cash payments because they don’t have a bank account, don’t have credit, or can’t afford digital technology.
Although it is difficult to measure the number of people who depend on money, older peoplein particular, are struggling to pay their bills digitally.
Some of the people interviewed are homeless or have mental health problems. Others live on a very low income. The obstacles they face are practical and cultural order. They feel like delinquents, devalued and prevented from participating in much of daily life.
Relying on money in Sweden
If physical money is the only money you have or the only money you can manage without help, we are confined to “money bubbles”. Cash works as a local currencyisolated from the rest of the economy.
In the money bubble, you can buy basic necessities and go to simple cafes, but you can’t pay for parking and you can’t pay the bills without help. Volunteers from local community groups say they spend most of their time carry out banking operations people for them.
A Ukrainian refugee, who cannot have a bank account Due to his immigration status, he was worried about a bill from the local clinic that he did not have the technical means to pay.
Homeless people who sleep in cars can’t use cashless meters, so an illicit market has emerged where people with smartphones and bank accounts pay for their parking at a substantial additional cost. It’s expensive to be digitally poor.
Respondents felt left behind in a society that does not care about their ability to participate. With a mixture of shame, anger and resignation, they described their daily humiliations. A woman saved up to buy a gift for her grandson, but at the cash register – with her grandson in hand – she was told they wouldn’t accept her money. “I felt like a thief”, these.
Sweden’s transition to cashless
Swedes are known for being early and uncritical adopters of technology – this has become part of the country’s self-image. In 2017, business researchers predicted that the cash would be irrelevant in Sweden in March 2023. It wasn’t quite like that, but close.
Over the last 150 years, technological innovations and entrepreneurship have seen the country go from a situation of great poverty to one of the richest in Europe.
The Swedish case is even more special due to the ubiquitous role of banks in payment and identification infrastructures. Banks created the widely used Swish payment app and also issue the electronic identification needed to access public services such as tax administration and sickness, disability and unemployment benefits.
Therefore, if you are not a bank customercannot access these public services.
During the pandemic, fears of contamination made handling physical money seem like a health hazard. “I hate cash. It’s dirty”, as a Swedish technology entrepreneur said.
The combination of all these factors has led to a modern Swedish society in which digital money is good and physical money is associated with crime and dirt. For people who still rely on cash payments, this stigma increases the feeling of being excluded.
In Sweden, as in many other countries, a completely cashless economy seems inevitable in the coming years. But as we have seen, people who depend on cash due to poverty are left without the means to manage themselves independently or even pay their bills.
This is not just a practical issue, but also an emotional issue. There is a feeling of lonelinessof loss of community and human connection in the digital economy. As one of the interviewees said: “It’s not just the lack of money. I feel like human beings have disappeared. We live like robots; click here, click there. Digitization has made people lonely.”
