Holiday Ayo - For the last 300 years, cash has become the prima donna of payment instruments in various countries. Cash is used as a medium for buying and selling people.

But nowadays, people are getting used to transacting without using cash. This movement is commonly referred to as a cashless society. Now, eating at street vendors can pay without cash. Simply scan the QR Code, or QRIS if in Indonesia, the transaction can be done.

The acceleration of a cashless society in various countries is certainly different. A number of countries seem to be very ready to eliminate cash, aka completely cashless transactions.

At least, until recently there was no cashless country. But there are more and more countries that are trying not to use cash in the years to come, here's a quote from Corepay!

1. Sweden

Sweden is arguably the best prepared to become a completely cashless country. Even mentioned if it will happen in 2023. There are now more and more announcements in stores in Sweden saying “Not Accepting Cash”.

A recent study from the European Payments Council showed that cash transactions only accounted for 1 percent of Sweden's GDP in 2019, with cash withdrawals continuing to decline at around 10 percent annually.

Recent reports show that mobile payments using smartphones are accelerating very sharply in Sweden. One of the main reasons is that Swedes are tech savvy. For example, Swish which is a payment app has more than 7.8 million users as of July 2020 and also makes nearly 50 million transactions per month.

2. Finland

Finland has a smaller population of around 5.5 million. What Finland does is different from Sweden. The country is not taking aggressive steps towards a fully digital economy. However, it is reported that Finland is currently more capable of being completely cashless.

Finland currently ranks second after Ireland in terms of frequency of use of payment cards, fifth in e-commerce spending, and second in smartphone penetration.

3. China

China is slightly behind Finland and Sweden. But the growth in e-payments is much more significant, given the size of the population. Like other countries aiming towards cashless, China has shown rapid adoption of mobile payments. Today, one of the most popular ways to pay by phone is through scanning a QR code.

China is the leader in e-commerce and is the largest e-commerce market in the world. With annual online sales of USD 672 billion and an annual growth rate of 27.3 percent, China is showing no signs of slowing down.