Norway leads cashless revolution

Global Business

Nordic and Scandinavian countries are leading the cashless revolution. In Norway, just six percent of the population are still using cash.

CCTV’s Dan Williams reports from Oslo, Norway.

Almost everything in Norway can now be paid for by card or digitally, leading one of the country’s banks to question the need for cash.

“Well the main reason is that all Norwegians are going digital. Only six percent of our customers use cash on a daily basis. Today, cash is fueling the black economy. And we are worried about money laundering from a bank’s perspective and obviously cash is easier to move around than digital money,” Thomas Midteide of DNB Bank said.

Norway would appear to be better placed than most to make the leap into a cashless society. But there are concerns, not least the interests of vulnerable groups and the elderly. And then there is the question of confidentiality.

Cash may well be losing favor, but it remains to be seen if it will be frozen out altogether.


Author Guillaume Lepecq on cashless society

One man who thinks cash does have a bright future is Guillaume LePecq, the author of “Cash Essentials.” He thinks cash is a beneficial social network and has just published a new study defending its merits.

CCTV America’s Owen Fairclough spoke to him and asked if the decline of cash had reached a tipping point.
Follow Owen Fairclough on Twitter @cloughieDC