Swedish cash payment limit proposal, Digi Mart USA News (Sweden): From summer 2027, large cash payments in stores will be banned under new EU anti-money laundering rules. The question now is how high the limit should be, and Sweden’s government and central bank disagree.
Beginning July 10, 2027, EU rules will prohibit cash payments above 10,000 euros to traders across the EU, which at today’s exchange rate equals about 110,000 Swedish kronor. Each member state may choose a lower limit, and that is where the debate is focused.
The Finance Ministry’s memorandum proposes that Sweden keep the EU level. The Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, opposes this and wants a limit of 10,000 kronor for cash payments to traders, roughly one-eleventh of the EU threshold.
In its consultation response, signed by Governor Erik Thedéen, the bank argues that such a limit would have small practical consequences in Sweden’s highly digitalized payments market while reducing risks of money laundering, tax evasion and other financial crime.
The Riksbank cites its own data showing that card purchases above 10,000 kronor make up well under one percent of retail purchases, and it estimates that almost all legitimate cash purchases today could be made within the new limit. The bank also proposes that the limit be adjustable as prices or incomes change.
It notes that several EU countries already have lower caps, including Denmark, with a limit of 15,000 Danish kronor, or just over 20,000 Swedish kronor.
The Finance Ministry’s memorandum argues it is uncertain whether a lower limit would make a difference, since few Swedes pay in cash. The Riksbank counters that digitalization is precisely why a lower limit would hardly be noticed by ordinary consumers and businesses.
One reason cited in the memorandum is that the ban is new. Another concerns so-called cash traders, businesses that may accept cash payments of at least 55,000 kronor and that currently must follow anti-money laundering law, including risk assessments, customer checks and reporting suspicious transactions to the Financial Police.
If the limit were set below 55,000 kronor, no trader could accept such large amounts, and that group would drop out of the regulatory framework. The Riksbank objects that current rules for cash traders have had application problems and were judged ineffective by the EU, which did not carry them into the new regulation.
The Riksbank, which has long campaigned for the future of cash, says a 10,000-kronor limit strikes a balance: high enough for shops to keep accepting cash, but low enough to hinder crime. The bank also supports allowing the government to temporarily suspend the cash limit during a crisis when payments cannot be made by any means other than cash.
The retail sector takes a different view. In its consultation response, Svensk Handel welcomes the absence of a lower proposed limit, describing a general ban on very large cash payments as a relatively simple and clear tool for businesses.
It is, however, skeptical about retaining the separate rules for cash traders, which it says would force retailers to comply with two different thresholds and two different sets of requirements, and it wants the government to examine this more closely.
The Finance Ministry is now reviewing the consultation responses ahead of a bill to be submitted to parliament. Regardless of where the limit ultimately lands, the ban will apply from July 10, 2027.
For most people the day-to-day difference will be small, but anyone planning to buy a car, watch or piece of jewelry with a stack of banknotes may need to rethink.
