Sweden is the closest any major economy has come to being cashless: fewer than 10% of in-person payments now use cash, Swish is the dominant P2P and P2M rail, and the Riksbank is actively piloting the e-krona CBDC. Cash is still legal tender but rarely accepted in person.
Sweden's transition has been driven by a coordinated push from banks, regulators, and consumers. The Swish mobile payment system - owned by the seven largest Swedish banks and built on the BankID national identity scheme - handles billions of transactions per year for a population of 10.5 million.
The Riksbank has formally raised concerns about the disappearance of cash and is one of the most advanced central banks worldwide on CBDC research, having run multiple phases of its e-krona pilot since 2020.
By the numbers
- < 10%Cash share of in-person payments (latest)Source: Sveriges Riksbank
- 8.5+ millionSwish usersSource: Sveriges Riksbank
- ~99% of adultsPopulation with a BankIDSource: Sveriges Riksbank
- Declining ~10% per yearAnnual cash withdrawalsSource: Sveriges Riksbank
Dominant rails & wallets
- SwishReal-time bank-to-bank P2P and P2M, settled on RIX-INST via BankID.
- BankAxept-equivalent cardsVisa and Mastercard dominate at point of sale; contactless ubiquitous.
- e-krona (pilot)Riksbank-issued retail CBDC in extended pilot since 2020.
Regulators
- Sveriges RiksbankCentral bank, payment system oversight, e-krona pilot
- FinansinspektionenFinancial Supervisory Authority
Sweden will continue to set the global pace on retail CBDC and cashless infrastructure. Expect formal legislation requiring banks to maintain cash access - a political response to the rapid disappearance of physical money - alongside production deployment of the e-krona this decade.
Frequently asked
Is cash still legal in Sweden?+
Yes - cash remains legal tender, but Swedish law does not require merchants to accept it, and most no longer do.
What is Swish?+
Swish is a bank-owned real-time mobile payment system used by ~85% of the Swedish adult population for both P2P and merchant payments.
Sources & References
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