UK Only Article:
standard article
Issue:
Cheating death
Fly Title:
Europe’s disappearing cash
Location:
STOCKHOLM
Print section
Main image:
20160813_FND001_0.jpg
Rubric:
Some Europeans are more attached to notes and coins than others
ONLY tourists pay in cash, says the young barista in Espresso House, a Swedish coffee chain, on Vasagatan in Stockholm. “They don’t understand we don’t use that anymore,” she rolls her eyes, gesturing to the card machine. The contactless “taps” that locals use are much faster, and she frequently runs out of change when foreigners bring large-denomination notes, fresh from the ATM.
Swedes rarely handle cash; the volume of card payments has increased tenfold since 2000 and only one in five payments—5-7% if measured by value—are made in cash today. In much of northern Europe the situation is similar, with “no cash” signs increasingly popping up in shop windows. But travel south or east and a ...
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