Paying by Card and Cash in Sweden

Sweden is a card and phone-app country, but cash has not disappeared. In cities, a contactless bank card or phone wallet works for most visitor purchases. Cash still matters in small shops, at flea markets, in rural areas, and as a backup when card terminals or ATMs fail. Swish, the bank-to-bank mobile payment service most Swedes use, requires a Swedish bank account and the national digital ID app, Mobile BankID, so visitors generally cannot use it.

Visitors need to know how far cashless payment reaches, where cash still helps, how the new cash-acceptance rules apply, how the contactless limit works, and which payment options to rely on.

How much of Sweden pays by card

Card payments dominate Swedish retail. The Riksbank, the country’s central bank, reported that cards made up 60 percent of all payment transactions in 2022, which came to 3,865 million card payments. Its 2025 payments report still lists card as the most common method by number of transactions. The Riksbank also says Swedish payments are almost entirely digital, and that Swedes use cash rarely compared with people in other countries.

Phones have become a major payment tool. In the 2025 report, 51 percent of respondents said they use their phone to pay in stores where they can, an increase of more than 10 points on the year before. The 2024 survey found that about two in ten people had used a card stored in their phone, a figure that has nearly tripled since 2022 from a low starting point. Online shopping followed the same path. In a 2023 survey cited in the 2024 report, 75 percent of respondents had shopped online in the previous month.

Swish is the most visible Swedish app. The Riksbank’s 2026 material puts Swish use at 91 percent of people in the last month, up from 82 percent in 2023. By the end of 2024, more than 345,000 companies and nearly 9 million private individuals were connected to Swish. The service now covers online shopping, in-store payments and some public-sector payments, as well as transfers between people.

Where cash is still useful

Cash use is falling in the hard numbers, but survey answers point the other way. In the 2024 survey, nearly half of respondents said they had used cash in the previous month, a rise of 15 percentage points from 2022. The Riksbank reads that result as an impression of more cash use rather than a reversal of the long-term trend. Its payment statistics show a steady decline in the infrastructure that supports cash:

By these figures, the ATM count fell by about 27 percent between 2018 and 2024, and withdrawal transactions fell by about half. The Riksbank’s annual report for 2024 says the value of cash in circulation declined further during the year, to SEK 57 billion at year-end. The Riksbank’s payment statistics page is the place to check newer figures.

The Riksbank names several reasons cash still matters. The first is backup. People who say they could not manage without cash often point to a failure of digital payments, and the Riksbank links that concern to heightened crisis awareness. Cash also helps people who struggle with digital payments, and it keeps payments to associations, smaller shops and flea markets working. The Riksbank’s 2024 letter on the cash chain warns that the commercial case for cash services is weakening, especially in sparsely populated areas.

The Riksbank’s 2026 page on remaining cash challenges says banks met the legal requirement that people can withdraw cash within 25 kilometers for 99.7 percent of the population. The requirement applies nationally, so a visitor in a thinly populated region may find the nearest ATM much farther away than that average suggests. The same page describes ATM problems at Bankomat’s machines in 2025 that sharply reduced access to cash for several months, with no working alternatives in place.

In practice, carry a small amount of kronor for small shops, markets, and rural stops, and keep a second card from a different bank. A card can fail at a terminal, and an ATM can be out of service, so a backup payment method matters most on long days in the countryside.

The new duty for shops to accept cash

Parliament has adopted a rule that requires certain shops to accept cash, and it applies from 1 July 2026. The duty falls on grocery stores and pharmacies that have staffed checkouts. It is a main rule, and it has exceptions. The covered payments are those up to 0.1 prisbasbelopp, a reference amount that the government sets each year, and no more than 25 coins. Larger cash payments remain possible, but the shop does not have to accept them.

The duty does not reach restaurants, cafés, fuel stations or public transport. A restaurant in Stockholm or a ferry operator can refuse cash, so card or phone payment is the default for those purchases. The duty also does not create a general obligation for public authorities. Parliament asked the government to examine whether public services should accept cash as well.

Exemptions apply where cash handling creates significant safety risks for staff, where staff safety cannot be maintained, or where cash-handling costs could force the outlet to close. The Council on Legislation advised against the obligation for grocery stores and pharmacies, and Parliament adopted it regardless. The enforcement provisions and the exact exemption wording come from the enacted text, so check the final law on the Riksdag committee report or the enacted statute before you rely on any exemption.

The duty sits on top of an older banking requirement. Since January 2021, the six largest credit institutions have been obliged to provide cash services nationwide. The five largest banks formed Bankomat AB to supply cash to ATMs, and the Riksbank’s cash flow page explains how cash moves from the central bank to the public through ATMs, bank offices and retailers.

Contactless cards and the 400 kr limit

A contactless payment lets you tap a card or phone on the terminal without entering a PIN, provided the amount is below the card’s no-PIN limit. Both the card and the terminal must support contactless. Swedbank says contactless is not yet available in every shop, so a card can still be declined at a small merchant.

Swedish card issuers commonly set the no-PIN limit at 400 kr per transaction. Swedbank, Nordea, Sparbanken Syd and Banknorwegian all list that figure on their card information pages, and Swedbank says a PIN is required above 400 kr. Two cautions apply. First, Swedbank also says the limit can vary between countries, and Nordea notes that each country sets its own amount. Second, terminals can ask for a PIN on smaller payments too. Sparbanken Syd notes that a PIN can be requested on some payments under 400 kr, and a terminal may require one after a set number of PIN-free transactions.

Check your own card terms before departure, because a foreign-issued card in Sweden is governed by your home bank’s rules. Ask your bank two questions: what is the no-PIN limit for transactions in Sweden, and does it apply the same limit to a phone wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. The issuer’s answer will settle the question for your card.

Why visitors cannot use Swish

Swish requires a Swedish bank account, a Swedish personal identity number and a valid Mobile BankID, as set out in the Swish visitor requirements. Visitors without a Swedish personal identity number and Swedish bank account generally cannot use Swish. Some Swedish banks let Swish users register a foreign-registered mobile number, and several banks support this. Not every bank does, and some foreign mobile operators cannot receive the verification text message, so activation can fail. Even where it works, the user still needs the Swedish bank account, which is the barrier for most visitors.

Swedes can use Swish outside Sweden, but only with a Swedish account. The practical result is that a visitor should plan around cards and phone wallets, not Swish.

Stockholm’s transit payments work the same way. The SL app accepts Swish only for users with a Swedish bank account and Mobile BankID. Visitors without Swedish BankID need another way to pay for tickets, and a bank card is the most likely option. Check SL’s own website for the current ticket methods before you travel, because transit payment rules can change.

A contactless foreign card or a phone wallet is the main option for visitors. Contactless Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards work across the city, including on buses, ferries and at market stalls. Confirm the transit part with the operator before you rely on it. For visitors without a Swedish account, prepaid and app-based options exist. Revolut cards can be loaded through Apple Pay or Google Pay, though not through Swish. Wise and PayPal are also options for some visitors, so check each provider’s current terms before you sign up.

Building a payment plan for a trip

Start with a contactless card from a bank that you know will allow foreign-card payments in Sweden, and confirm its no-PIN limit before departure. Add a second card from a different bank as backup, and keep it somewhere other than your main wallet. Use the phone wallet for convenience at larger shops, but treat the physical card as the backup for transit, rural stops, and any place where a phone wallet might not be accepted.

Carry some kronor for the places that still prefer cash, such as small shops, flea markets, and rural stops. Grocery stores and pharmacies with staffed checkouts now have a legal duty to accept cash for the amounts the law covers, but restaurants, cafés, fuel stations and public transport do not. Plan for that difference before you reach the checkout.

Check your bank’s fees for ATM withdrawals in Sweden before you travel, and plan withdrawals for larger towns when you can. Rural ATMs are farther apart, and the 2025 outages showed that a machine can stay out of service for an extended period.

What to check before you travel

• Carry two contactless cards from different banks: Card payments carry most of Swedish retail, but a second card protects you if a terminal or card fails.
• Check your no-PIN limit before departure: Swedish issuers commonly list 400 kr per transaction, but your home bank sets the limit for its own cards in Sweden.
• Bring some kronor for small shops and rural stops: Cash remains useful at markets, small businesses and in areas with thin ATM coverage.
• Plan for cash refusals at restaurants and transit: The new duty covers grocery stores and pharmacies with staffed checkouts, not cafés, restaurants, fuel stations or public transport.
• Skip Swish and use cards or wallets instead: Swish needs a Swedish bank account, a Swedish personal identity number and Mobile BankID, so visitors should rely on cards and phone wallets.