Cash Is Definitely Not King For Card-Carrying Swedes
Peter Fredell carries an unusual wallet. It feels a bit like leather, but the material is pale and thin. He pulls it out on a street corner in Stockholm.
"I actually made it myself," he says. "It's an eel that I fished up. And I used the skin and stitched it together."
This eelskin wallet carries personal significance — but it does not carry cash.
Around the world, cash is fading. Electronic transactions are becoming a bigger part of the economy every year. And one of the leaders in this trend is Sweden, where more than 95 percent of transactions are digital.
Fredell is the CEO of a company called Seamless that designs payment systems for cellphones.
Back in his office, I asked him to recall the last time he needed cash.
He thought for a bit.
"My son plays ice hockey, and I had to give something to the ice hockey team, and so I gave them some cash," Fredell says eventually. "But as a matter of fact, that will disappear too."
He says the ice hockey team has just started taking cellphone payments.
I decided to see just how far this goes.
So we stuck our heads out of Fredell's office to the open-plan workspace. I asked if anyone had cash. Person after person shook his head.
Finally we found one employee with cash — an engineer named Wilhelm Svenselius.
He said he'd needed it for a party the previous weekend. It was held at a bar that doesn't take cards, and Svenselius had had to get cash especially for the occasion. He says that happens once a month or so.
Vicar Johan Tyrberg of the Carl Gustaf Church in Karlshamn, southern Sweden, stands next to a credit card machine enabling worshippers to donate money to the church collection electronically, in 2011.
Of course, these people work for a digital payment company.
But national data show that in Sweden, they are not unusual. There are churches that pass a digital payment system with the collection plate. Some homeless people who sell newspapers on the street take digital payments.
Ruth Goodwin-Groen runs the Better than Cash Alliance, which the U.N. and major global foundations are funding as part of an effort to move the global economy away from cash toward digital transactions.
"This is a means of helping achieve many different goals," Goodwin-Groen says.
Electronic transactions are more transparent and more accountable, she says. They cost less, and they're more secure. It's a global trend, from the developing world to the biggest, most advanced economies.
But there are holdouts.
"For some consumers, and especially older consumers, they prefer cash and don't prefer to use cards or mobile payments," says Ron Shevlin, a senior analyst at the Aite Group, a financial services firm in Boston.
And people making illegal purchases on the black market will always prefer cash.
Plus, he says, digital transactions do raise security concerns.
"In some respects, the economic impact is negative because of the propensity for data breaches and fraudulent transactions," Shevlin says.
Back in Stockholm, Fredell is already imagining ways to make cashless transactions completely secure.
"My favorite payment actually is DNA payment. You spit in a cup next to the cashier," he said.
That spit system doesn't exist anywhere yet.
"But it's the absolutely safest way, right?" Fredell says. "Someone would have to copy your DNA."
It's a dream — but not one that he sees happening anytime soon.
9(MDE1MTIxMDg0MDE0MDQ3NTY3MzkzMzY1NA001))
Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
Around the world, cash is fading. Electronic transactions are becoming more and more common. One of the countries leading that trend is Sweden where more than 95 percent of transactions are digital. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports from Stockholm.
ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: Peter Fredell carries an unusual wallet. It feels a bit like leather, but the material is pale and thin. He pulls it out on a street corner in Stockholm.
PETER FREDELL: I actually made it myself. It's an eel that I actually fished up, and then I used the skin.
SHAPIRO: (Laughter) You caught the eel?
FREDELL: Yeah (laughter) I caught the - and then I stitched it together.
SHAPIRO: This eel skin wallet carries personal significance, but it does not carry cash. Fredell is the CEO of a company called Seamless that designs payment systems for cell phones. Back in his office, I asked him to recall the last time he needed cash. He thought for a bit and then...
FREDELL: My son plays ice hockey, and I had to give something to the ice hockey team, and then I gave them some cash. But as a matter of fact, that will disappear, too.
SHAPIRO: He says the ice hockey team has just started taking cell phone payments. I decided to see how far this goes, so we stuck our heads out of Fredell's office to the open-plan workspace.
Hello. I'm sorry to interrupt everybody's work. I'm wondering if anyone in the office has any cash on them. Anyone? No? Shaking your head no - no cash - no - none. You never need cash?
Finally we found one employee with cash, an engineer named Wilhelm Svenselius. He says he needed it for a party last weekend.
WILHELM SVENSELIUS: The bar didn't take cards, no.
SHAPIRO: Did you have to get cash just to...
SVENSELIUS: Yes. I didn't have any before.
SHAPIRO: How often do you run into a place where you need cash?
SVENSELIUS: Once a month or something.
SHAPIRO: Of course, these people work for a digital payment company, but national data showed that in Sweden they are not that unusual. Less than 5 percent of transactions here use cash. There are churches that pass a digital payment system with the collection plate. Some homeless people who sell newspapers on the street take digital payments.
RUTH GOODWIN-GROEN: It's so cool, isn't it? I love those stories.
SHAPIRO: Ruth Goodwin-Groen runs the Better than Cash Alliance. The U.N. and major global foundations are funding this project to move the global economy away from cash towards digital transactions.
GOODWIN-GROEN: This is a means to helping achieve many different goals.
SHAPIRO: She says electronic transactions are more transparent and more accountable. They cost less, and they're more secure. This is a global trend from the developing world to the biggest, most advanced economies. But there are holdouts. Ron Shevlin is a senior analyst at the Aite Group, a financial services firm in Boston.
RON SHEVLIN: For some consumers, and especially older consumers, it's - they prefer cash and don't prefer to use cards or mobile payments.
SHAPIRO: And people making illegal purchases on the black market will always prefer cash. Plus, he says, digital transactions do raise security concerns.
SHEVLIN: In some respects, the economic impact is negative because of the propensity for data breaches and fraudulent transactions.
SHAPIRO: Back in Stockholm, Peter Fredell is already imagining ways to make cashless transactions completely secure.
FREDELL: My favorite payment, actually, is DNA payment. You, like, spit in a cup next to the cashier (laughter).
SHAPIRO: Does that exist?
FREDELL: No, its doesn't. But, you know, that's the absolutely safest way, right? Somebody would have to copy your DNA.
SHAPIRO: It's a dream, but not one that he sees happening anytime soon. Ari Shapiro, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad