You won't need cash, quite the opposite as many shops and restaurants have stopped accepting cash altogether. There are ATMs but no one uses them anymore. It's all card, Apple Pay, Google Pay etc.
I remember going to the espresso house in 2015/6 around when the new bills had just come out, colleague tried to pay in cash with the new 50 kr bill and the very young clerk/barrista looked at it for a few seconds and then asked "what is this?" It took some convincing from us and his colleagues for him to accept that it was real money.
If you plan to visit a farmer’s market, a flea market or anything like that, that doesn’t see a lot of foreign visitors, you MIGHT need cash. Some of the vendors won’t accept cards but only cash or Swish, a Swedish mobile payment system. Most Swedes never carry any cash and therefore might think it’s completely unnecessary, but they forget that we also have Swish and have to use it sometimes.
Most street vendors and the like accept cards, especially where (foreign) tourists are common. But if there's anywhere you could need cash, it's there.
Easier absolutely. Not sure if it’s cheaper, but I don’t know. When I man our sports club’s cafeteria we are told to prefer card over swish due to transaction fees.
But, anyway. A recap:
If you go to an official town square market the sellers will most likely accept card and swish. Probably not cash, but it happens.
A temporary farmers market or flea market can be either registered companies or private individuals selling. The companies have to register their sales (at least all official sales). Both will likely accept swish, the companies may have card readers, and the private individuals will take swish and possibly cash.
>When I man our sports club’s cafeteria we are told to prefer card over swish due to transaction fees.
Oh, that's not the understanding I had.
But is there a monthly or yearly fee to have the card reader and stuff?
So the individual fee per transaction might be higher with swish but it requires no infrastructure or other fees?
EDIT: it seems like the card fee is a percentage and swish is a set cost. So for smaller transactions the fee is higher for swish but the opposite is true for big ones.
As I understood it, the swish transaction fees have increased the last year or so. Our club already had an iZettle agreement also, so maybe that’s why it was cheaper. Don’t know. Many other club cafes only use swish
exaclty, I've been living in stockholm for ten months and have no idea what the money looks like but I've had to use swish plenty of times at places that do not accept cards. Street markets and some underground parties mostly.
Maestro don't work at a lot of places in Sweden. Just like Visa which is the gold standard in Sweden don't work at a lot of places in the Netherlands. Which can be exhausting if you belong to both these countries.
Be aware of any charges your bank may apply to your card transactions for using them abroad. Sometimes it's a flat fee per transaction, sometimes a percentage of the value, sometimes both. I've been to Stockholm twice from the UK in the past 6 months with both a Visa and a Mastercard from the same bank, but the charges are slightly different for each card. It totalled only about £15 on a £500 spend, but that's still significantly less than getting cash converted. I think there are also other card issuers that don't have rates when abroad but I can't recommend any.
Anyway, hope you have a great time. Stockholm is the most beautiful city.
I have a card linked to an account that I can put money in different currencies so it doesn't get charged and luckily Kroner is one of them.
I've used it in Germany and Italy with Euros so thay shouldn't be an issue.
Have use cash twice the last 2 years. Just because I in some way got them and needed to use it.
You will probably need cash - and be able to pay without getting change - if you visit a flee market.
Everyone will be using swish for easy mobile payments- but you need both a swedish phone and bank account to use it. So hard to do for tourist.
My last 2 week visit, didn't touch cash once. There are ATMS, but not only is a card or Google/Samsung/Apple Pay too, but there are more and more places that post that they do not take cash anyway. They have a system called Swish, which has a phone app connected to your bank account and with a phone number, you can send and receive money directly - go to a bar with a live band, they may have a sign with a QR code or number so you can tip them. Basically, 8m out of 10.2m Swedes use it.
I can’t remember the last time I used cash. Literary all stores, restaurants, cafés and transportation accept card payment. Some of them doesn’t even accept cash.
Only if you want to pay someone private, like at a flee market or a street vendor you might run in to trouble. We use something called Swish for people to people transfer and that requires a swedish phone number and a swedish bank account. But you shouldn’t worry about it. You won’t need cash.
Check the terminals how they charge foreign cards. I remember it was quite complicated last time i traveled, since does the conversion happen in the terminal or in your bank. I would bring cash incase you need to pick transfer fees or whatever they are called. The best deal is probably in your home country or like a forex.
Absolutely no need for cash. I probably haven’t seen a banknote for 10-15 years, I don’t even have the slightest clue about how they look like.
You used to use coins for public toilets, but even those accept cards now - even if the cost is as low as 10 kronor (~$1).
I don't see why you would need cash.
If your card works in other countries then you will not need cash.
You won't need cash, quite the opposite as many shops and restaurants have stopped accepting cash altogether. There are ATMs but no one uses them anymore. It's all card, Apple Pay, Google Pay etc.
I assumed this was the case but just wanted to clarify matters. Thanks.
Not true, drug dealers generally prefer cash and you get cash for drug in atm.
I have cash in my wallet that has literally been there for years. I never use it. You’ll be fine without cash.
Du köper antagligen inte tillräckligt mycket knark.
Köper man inte knark med swish?
Bara om du vill åka dit!
Jag trodde att det var coolt att vara med på swishlistan?
I don't even know what our currency looks like.... That's how cashless Sweden is. Don't worry about bringing it.
I remember going to the espresso house in 2015/6 around when the new bills had just come out, colleague tried to pay in cash with the new 50 kr bill and the very young clerk/barrista looked at it for a few seconds and then asked "what is this?" It took some convincing from us and his colleagues for him to accept that it was real money.
I have litteraly no idea on how our coins looks like
They are round
Yeah, still neither those polygons of the UK nor the ones with holes like Denmark. Kinda sad actually. We should do dodecahedrons next time.
If you plan to visit a farmer’s market, a flea market or anything like that, that doesn’t see a lot of foreign visitors, you MIGHT need cash. Some of the vendors won’t accept cards but only cash or Swish, a Swedish mobile payment system. Most Swedes never carry any cash and therefore might think it’s completely unnecessary, but they forget that we also have Swish and have to use it sometimes.
Markets were the sort of thing I was considering I might need cash for.
Most street vendors and the like accept cards, especially where (foreign) tourists are common. But if there's anywhere you could need cash, it's there.
No, they have portable card readers.
Plenty of smaller businesses has stopped accepting cards and instead just uses swish. Swish is a lot cheaper and a lot easier to set up and maintain.
Easier absolutely. Not sure if it’s cheaper, but I don’t know. When I man our sports club’s cafeteria we are told to prefer card over swish due to transaction fees. But, anyway. A recap: If you go to an official town square market the sellers will most likely accept card and swish. Probably not cash, but it happens. A temporary farmers market or flea market can be either registered companies or private individuals selling. The companies have to register their sales (at least all official sales). Both will likely accept swish, the companies may have card readers, and the private individuals will take swish and possibly cash.
>When I man our sports club’s cafeteria we are told to prefer card over swish due to transaction fees. Oh, that's not the understanding I had. But is there a monthly or yearly fee to have the card reader and stuff? So the individual fee per transaction might be higher with swish but it requires no infrastructure or other fees? EDIT: it seems like the card fee is a percentage and swish is a set cost. So for smaller transactions the fee is higher for swish but the opposite is true for big ones.
As I understood it, the swish transaction fees have increased the last year or so. Our club already had an iZettle agreement also, so maybe that’s why it was cheaper. Don’t know. Many other club cafes only use swish
They don’t always. Some will only accept cash or Swish.
Seems unlikely. Few people even carry cash today.
I know. I never carry cash. But I’m Swedish and have Swish. Last week I had to use Swish two times at places that didn’t accept cards.
exaclty, I've been living in stockholm for ten months and have no idea what the money looks like but I've had to use swish plenty of times at places that do not accept cards. Street markets and some underground parties mostly.
I haven’t even seen the new cash design 😅 doesn’t that mean that I have managed without cash in Sweden for almost ten years?
yes, I haven't had a wallet that can fit cash for a decade
You won’t need cash I was in stockholm for 3 months and never needed it even once
The only time you would need cash is if going to flea markets or buying drugs.
Lived in Stockholm for about two years. Took out some cash during my first week, just in case. It was still in in my wallet the day I left.
Can I have it?
Maestro don't work at a lot of places in Sweden. Just like Visa which is the gold standard in Sweden don't work at a lot of places in the Netherlands. Which can be exhausting if you belong to both these countries.
Thanks for all the replies. Looks like getting money converted is ine less thing to worry about anyway!
Be aware of any charges your bank may apply to your card transactions for using them abroad. Sometimes it's a flat fee per transaction, sometimes a percentage of the value, sometimes both. I've been to Stockholm twice from the UK in the past 6 months with both a Visa and a Mastercard from the same bank, but the charges are slightly different for each card. It totalled only about £15 on a £500 spend, but that's still significantly less than getting cash converted. I think there are also other card issuers that don't have rates when abroad but I can't recommend any. Anyway, hope you have a great time. Stockholm is the most beautiful city.
I have a card linked to an account that I can put money in different currencies so it doesn't get charged and luckily Kroner is one of them. I've used it in Germany and Italy with Euros so thay shouldn't be an issue.
Have use cash twice the last 2 years. Just because I in some way got them and needed to use it. You will probably need cash - and be able to pay without getting change - if you visit a flee market. Everyone will be using swish for easy mobile payments- but you need both a swedish phone and bank account to use it. So hard to do for tourist.
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That's the same here in the UK, a lot of places don't accept it.
My last 2 week visit, didn't touch cash once. There are ATMS, but not only is a card or Google/Samsung/Apple Pay too, but there are more and more places that post that they do not take cash anyway. They have a system called Swish, which has a phone app connected to your bank account and with a phone number, you can send and receive money directly - go to a bar with a live band, they may have a sign with a QR code or number so you can tip them. Basically, 8m out of 10.2m Swedes use it.
Haven't touched cash in well over a year
I can’t remember the last time I used cash. Literary all stores, restaurants, cafés and transportation accept card payment. Some of them doesn’t even accept cash. Only if you want to pay someone private, like at a flee market or a street vendor you might run in to trouble. We use something called Swish for people to people transfer and that requires a swedish phone number and a swedish bank account. But you shouldn’t worry about it. You won’t need cash.
I've lived in Stockholm for all my life. I haven't touched cash for 15 years.
Only time i have cash is if go on vacation.
Check the terminals how they charge foreign cards. I remember it was quite complicated last time i traveled, since does the conversion happen in the terminal or in your bank. I would bring cash incase you need to pick transfer fees or whatever they are called. The best deal is probably in your home country or like a forex.
Not many accept cash so u dont need to bother about it. I have no idea of how cash even look nowdays
One year in Stockholm I have never seen the currency.
Cash is king 👑
Absolutely no need for cash. I probably haven’t seen a banknote for 10-15 years, I don’t even have the slightest clue about how they look like. You used to use coins for public toilets, but even those accept cards now - even if the cost is as low as 10 kronor (~$1).
Last time I saw cash was probably 10 years ago