Payments Report 2025 (Sveriges Riksbank)

Summary

• In a survey of 1,553 small retail and service businesses conducted in autumn 2024, card payments were the most accepted payment method.p.15
• Cash acceptance in Sweden varies widely by industry, reaching 85 per cent in essential goods retail compared to 45 per cent in building materials sales.p.18
• A global BIS survey found that 94 per cent of responding central banks are actively exploring central bank digital currencies in some form.p.27
• Payment service fraud reported to Finansinspektionen totalled more than SEK 1 billion during the first half of 2024.p.34
• In 2023, almost half of account-to-account payments were instantaneous in Denmark, compared with 40 per cent in Sweden.p.42

Key insights

1. Only about 10 per cent of in-store purchases in Sweden are currently paid for using cash.p.11
2. Almost 1 in 3 small businesses in Sweden cannot estimate the proportion of annual turnover spent on payment transaction costs.p.21
3. Only 10 per cent of small businesses report being able to process offline card payments when normal data communications fail.p.31
4. Authorisation fraud reported to the Swedish Police increased by 12 per cent in 2024.p.34
5. Payment fraud across the European Economic Area reached €4.3 billion in 2022 and €2 billion in the first half of 2023.p.35
6. BankID is used by over 8.5 million users in Sweden, making it the dominant electronic identification mechanism.p.36
7. Instant payments accounted for just over 20 per cent of total euro area transfers at the end of 2024.p.42
8. The Riksbank sets a target date of 1 July 2026 for offline card payments for essential goods to function during disruptions lasting up to 7 days.p.53