How Cyber Threats Put Cash Back in Sweden’s Wallet

Sweden was Europe's testing ground for the cashless society. In everyday life, bank cards or Swish, the country's mobile payment system, were usually enough. From parking tickets to supermarkets, churches and coffee shops, almost everything was paid for electronically.

From 1 July the country has begun moving in the opposite direction. Grocery stores and pharmacies with staffed checkouts must once again accept cash. Banks are also required to ensure that cash deposits and withdrawals remain available. For a country that long treated the disappearance of cash as a symbol of progress, the change marks a significant reversal.

The move away from bills and coins was also driven by security concerns. Cash made people attractive targets for robberies by criminal gangs. Banks, shops and cash transport vehicles were repeatedly attacked. With less cash in circulation, there was simply less to steal. As early as 2019, Sweden's central bank concluded that cash-related robberies had fallen sharply.

That security calculation has now changed. Cash in a wallet may attract criminals, but a digital currency depends on electricity, communications networks and digital identity systems. The point of vulnerability has shifted from the cash register to the country's technical infrastructure.

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Cash Becomes an Emergency Reserve

Sweden has already experienced the risks. In 2021, supermarket chain Coop was forced to close hundreds of stores after a ransomware attack on IT provider Kaseya disrupted its checkout systems. Customers were not confronted with empty safes but with payment terminals that no longer worked.

BankID represents another critical vulnerability. The digital identification system is the gateway to payments and many public and private online services in Sweden. Swish depends entirely on this digital infrastructure. If it fails, much more than a convenient payment method disappears. The Riksbank therefore recommends that every household keep cash at home for emergencies. It advises holding around 1,000 kronor per adult, roughly €90 (about $120), enough to cover essential purchases for about one week. The central bank also recommends maintaining several different payment options.

The shift reflects Sweden's changing security environment. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country has placed greater emphasis on civil preparedness. Cyberattacks, sabotage and power outages now feature prominently in emergency planning. A household that relies exclusively on electronic payments may be unable to buy even basic groceries during a prolonged outage.

Electronic money is also easier to restrict. Banks can block transactions. Payment providers can suspend users. Governments can order accounts to be frozen. Canada demonstrated how quickly access to financial services could be limited during the 2022 trucker protests, when emergency laws were used to freeze certain bank accounts.

Putting Limits on Digital Payments

In such circumstances, physical cash has unique advantages. A bill does not require an internet connection. A coin does not depend on a login. A payment between two people does not rely on an app, a bank's approval or a functioning server.

Sweden has not forgotten the security concerns that originally encouraged the decline of cash. Instead, it has identified a larger vulnerability. A digital payment system can fail centrally, be disrupted by cyberattacks or become unavailable during a major crisis. Under normal circumstances this may seem remote. During an emergency, however, it can determine whether people are still able to buy food.

The new cash acceptance requirement initially applies to grocery stores and pharmacies with staffed checkouts. Exemptions remain possible, including where security concerns exist or for certain self-service checkouts. Some retailers have nevertheless indicated that they oppose the return of cash.

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At the same time, Sweden continues to develop its proposed e-krona, while the European Union is advancing plans for a digital euro. These projects are intended to modernize payments and ensure that governments retain a role in an increasingly digital financial system. Even so, policymakers now believe that a physical fallback remains essential.

Sweden went further than almost any other country in reducing the use of cash. By 2025, only a small minority of consumers reported paying for their most recent purchase with bills or coins and many bank branches had stopped handling cash altogether.

Now, the country that once led the transition to a cashless economy is requiring supermarkets and pharmacies to accept bills and coins once again. The calculation has changed: physical currency is once again regarded as an essential safeguard when digital systems fail.