Sweden might be the world's first cashless society

Sweden might be the world's first cashless society

Spare some kronor? No need! Stockholm’s homeless magazine vendors now take credit cards. Businessweek reports.
Situation Stockholm is a culture magazine that costs 50 kronor ($8) and features stories on Swedish celebrities, such as pop star Robyn and actress Noomi Rapace from the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

It’s also sold by the homeless, who keep 50 percent of the money they take in from peddling the magazine. In September, five of the magazine’s 350 vendors were equipped with portable card readers to accept payments from fellow Swedes. This marks a world’s first.

“More and more of our sellers come in and say that people don’t have cash,” says Pia Stolt, the magazine’s chief executive officer. “They have told us this for a long time.”

The magazine can already be bought via a text-message service. And now, by supplying its street vendors with card readers from Swedish mobile-payments company iZettle, Situation Stockholm is seeking to accelerate sales.

But would people hesitate to use a credit card on the street? “This was one of the things we were wondering about — how safe people would feel with iZettle and this card reader,” Stolt says, “but they do.”