Cash is no longer king

MoneyMoney.Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB scanpix

Eight out of ten Norwegians mostly or even only use cards for payments, according to a survey conducted by the Norwegian Employers Organization (NHO).

The survey is performed by Norstat, and includes 1,000 people asked about their shopping habits. The proportion of respondents who never use cash has increased from 30 percent in 2015 to 37 percent in 2016. In the age group 30 to 39, almost half say that they virtually never use cash.

The respondents that say they solely pay by cash are now down to one in one-hundred. CEO of NHO Travel, former Minister of Defence, Kristin Krohn Devold, says that she believes Norwegian consumers are now ready to let go of cash.

Backwards

– It’s a miniscule minority that uses cash. It is therefore strange that the Norwegian Authorities maintain the requirement that companies have to accept cash payments, says Krohn Devold.

Today companies are still required by law to accept cash.

– For us, dropping cash is important to make it clear who wants to operate openly. There are very few reasons left for not requiring electronic payment for goods and services, says Trade Union boss (Fellesforbundet), Jørn Eggum.

The survey on Norwegians’ payment habits is part of the recent report ‘Cash-free Norway’. This is the third report on cash payment in Norway that Professor Kai A. Olsen has made on behalf of NHO Travel.

The gross value of all debit and credit transfers was nearly NOK 16,000 billion in 2015, while total cash withdrawals were NOK 90 billion, withdrawals in shops amounted to an additional 19 billion. The cash withdrawals from ATM and shops therefore accounted for a mere 7 percent of all money transfers.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today