Friday 19 February 2016

$tockholm - economics of a city

Stockholm is where tall, beautiful Swedes will tell you, sorry, no, you can't pay for that 15 Krone cinnamon bun with Swedish Krone. You will look on, aghast, wondering if their famously impeccable English language skills are all a lie. No, they're not. 

Sweden is moving on much quicker than the UK when it comes to the technology in the financial sector. They are swiftly moving away from hard cash and into the realm of cards-only paying. Granted, being an unsuspecting tourist, this did work to our advantage in some ways. We tried to get on a bus only to be told the no cash rule. We muttered about international card charges and got a free bus ride. That cinnamon bun debacle? The nice shop man paid for our cakes himself, in return for us giving him a handful of cash shrapnel.


Fair enough, you think. Cash is overrated, and card is seemingly much safer. A survey from last April revealed that cash comprises only £18.33 of every £100 spent in the UK.* But surely there are some downfalls to a card-only economy? Tourists struggle and face large credit card charges. The homeless face even more of a challenge, as there is less spare change around - and less places to spend that spare change. When we paid by cash for our train tickets in a local PressbyrĂ„n, they were more expensive than if we had purchased from the card-only ticket machine. It almost seemed that, in the Swedes seeming financial progression, they had actually digressed to a financial situation that discriminates against those who need the discrimination the least.
Views at the Royal Palace - no money issues here

*http://www.cityam.com/213547/death-cash-brits-pay-card-and-mobile-instead

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