Denmark headed for cashless shopping
The Danish government recently proposed getting rid of the obligation for some retailers to accept cash payments, moving Denmark closed to a “cashless” economy.
Almost a third of the population in Denmark uses MobilePay, which is an application for smartphones that transfers money to other phones and shops.
The proposal as of next year is that businesses such as clothing retailers, gas stations and restaurants should no longer be legally obliged to accept cash. This proposal is part of a pre-election package of growth measures to reduce costs and increase productivity for businesses. It still needs to be approved by parliament and the timing of a vote is still unknown.
It’s unlikely that the proposal will meet much opposition in Denmark. It is already common for the population to use debit or credit cards for small payments, such as a package of chewing gum.
Finansraadet, a financial institution lobbyist, said that going cashless would save retailers money and time on security and managing change from the cash register.
But there are fears that moving entirely to electronic payment may increase the risk of fraud, which have doubled in the past decade in neighbouring country Sweden. Danske Bank, the biggest bank in Denmark and the owner of MobilePay, have taken steps to prevent fraud. They link the app to NemID which is a digital signature linked to the Danish equivalent of an individual’s social security number.
Sweden, Denmark and Finland also take the lead in credit card payments per inhabitants in the European Union.
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, supports the movement towards cashless societies. He argues that due to the low marginal costs, banks would be encouraged to provide services to the world’s poorest.
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