Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
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Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
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Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#2This makes quantitative easing so much easier!
Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#3"while some unemployed people selling street magazines now also accept electronic payments."
This was hard to grasp when I saw it IRL for the first time. My local candy store and deli[0] both accept Mobile Pay and it's a strange thing to witness. Imagine the NYC delis, usually owned by immigrants and minorities who couldn't care less, suddenly be on the frontier of adoption of a cashless system. It's that user friendly. And the nature of the businesses (selling cigarette singles and imported sodas) mean you do have a suspicion of it being off the books..
Another anecdote, I just started a record label[1] and for our first show, we accepted cash and Mobile Pay. We're small, it was in a private apartment, but so many people do not bring cash anymore we basically had to accept MP.
[0] Hvis nogen fra Danmark læser dette, så er det Palmen ved skt. hans torv, og kiosken ved Blågårds plads... Sikkert mange flere. [1] https://scalatapes.bandcamp.com/
Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#4Cashless societies like credit cards and mobile payments
Not cashless societies like Star Trek
Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#5This was a bit of a surprise for me when I moved to Ireland and later the UK two years ago.
In Sweden I wouldn't use bills and coins sometimes for months. Suddenly I have had to get used to carrying these around again, and having to pay fees when you pay with cards etc.
I'm looking forward for the world to go cashless, and think this will happen very fast.
Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#6Its probablly ok if you live in Norway and your not poor and have a good credit rating, other wise your going to have to go with a prepaid solution that is full of transaction costs. The same with traveling to these countries.
At DEFCON last year I took two bank cards, that I had loaded with funds...big mistake transactions for ATMS and using POS systems were very high.
I don't think this is a good idea if you are forced to go with a card to go with everyday transactions.
Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#7Going cashless smacks of dystopianism. We seem to presume that anyone "off the books" is up to no good. Some are up to no good, but many are simply trying to survive.
Perhaps I'd think differently if we had no unemployment.
Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#8I believe the trend in the nordics is largely driven by the Dankort and similar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dankort) which is a debit card that is free to get and use for consumers. Merchants pay an annual fee depending on their transaction volume and they are not allowed to pass the cost on to the consumer. It doubles as a VISA which is neat when we go abroad.
An interesting data point is that every single taxis here is happy to take your credit card. I was surprised to learn that I was unable to pay with my VISA in many taxis in the UK and USA.
Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#9Its probablly ok if you live in Norway and your not poor and have a good credit rating, other wise your going to have to go with a prepaid solution that is full of transaction costs. The same with traveling to these countries. At DEFCON last year I took two bank cards, that I had loaded with funds...big mistake transactions for ATMS and using POS systems were very high. I don't think this is a good idea if you are fo…
Debit cards are the norm here in Norway. I pay 275 NOK/year for mine, with zero transaction fees on everyday usage.
Re: Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
#10The move to cashless transactions in Sweden is helped by the various immigrant gangs robbing bus drivers and stores. And the state is quick to "solve" the problem in a way that ensures that all transactions can be monitored by ... agencies.