DNB will remove all of the cash in Norway
DNB believes the dangers and disadvantages of cash means it’s time to phase them out as payment.
At present, there is about NOK 50 billion in circulation. Norges Bank can only account for 40 percent of the consumption, says EVP Trond Bentestuen, director for retail banking in Norway’s largest bank, to the newspaper VG.
– It means it’s 60 percent of spending is out of control. We think much of it revolves around the black economy and money laundering, he said.
Bentestuen argues that only 6 percent of us use cash daily. The cash is already gone from DNB’s branches but still contributes to violent crime, according to the director.
In the Ministry of Finance, they do not plan to change the law now.
– There are many, including the elderly, who still want to use cash, and they must still be allowed to do that. Moreover, it is not unproblematic for privacy to make all transactions traceable, said Mr Tore Vamråk in the Ministry of Finance.
Labor`s fiscal spokesperson Marianne Marthinsen says she does not want to ban cash now but is open to a discussion about phasing it out over time.
Source. NTB scanpix/ Norway Today
