From today, shops, restaurants and hairdressers must say “yes” when you ask to pay with cash. In June, a broad majority in the Storting approved the government’s proposal for changes to the Financial Agreements Act, and on 1 October the changes came into force. 600,000 are not digital Surveys indicate that as many as 600,000 Norwegians are not digital. The government believes that these groups must have the same opportunity to pay as everyone else. – In a digital world, it can be easy to forget that there is a large group of people who are not digital, said Minister of Justice and Emergency Emilie Enger Mehl. – The regulations have been too unclear. People should be confident that they can pay when they go to the shop, to a restaurant or to the hairdresser. Emilie Enger Mehl believes that cash is important with regard to preparedness, and to secure those who are not digital. Photo: Jonas Oden Ulset / news Jan Davidsen is head of the Pensioners’ Association. He is happy that the government has taken this seriously. – I belong to those who are lucky and can use digital payment methods. But this is about those who cannot, and that it prevents them from doing everything they want to do, he tells Dagens on P1. – The digital development has gone very fast, and this has meant that the training the population should have received in using this has never been carried out. It is one of the things we are most concerned about. – Gift package for criminals Managing director Rune Aale-Hansen of Regnskap Norge is, on the other hand, skeptical of the legislative change. – We have a black economy in Norway of several tens of billions of kroner. And cash is one of the easiest things to cheat with, because it is not traceable. Opening up to even greater use of cash is in many ways a gift package to the criminals, he says. Rune Aale-Hansen is managing director of Regnskap Norge. Photo: CF-Wesenberg Jarle Hammerstad, head of industry policy in Virke, says that he has challenges seeing that not having the option to pay in cash is a big problem. – We think that this is a bit retrospective. It is not a big problem today – the vast majority accept cash and there are special reasons why some do not. – We believe that companies need an opportunity to have digital solutions. Important for preparedness The Directorate for Social Security and Preparedness (DSB) recommends that everyone have some cash lying around, because digitized payment solutions are, among other things, vulnerable to digital attacks. Mehl has been clear that cash is also an important preparedness for society. – The government takes society’s preparedness seriously. The world around us is becoming increasingly troubled, with war, digital threats and climate change. We must be prepared for long-term power outages, system failures or digital attacks that lead to the failure of the digital payment solutions. Published 01.10.2024, at 10.32
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From 1 October you can demand to pay in cash – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
