Peregrine415

Amen! Please don't ruin it for others.

ksu

Swedish waiters in Oslo seem to expect American style tips...

tsastor

The disease attempts to spread. The most effective way is indeed the handheld card processing terminal that is programmed so that it asks for the tip.

:D!

I just tried to exchange 300 SEK of the older 5kr coins at Forex Bank in GOT

They told me to go to OSL as it would be cheaper. Apparently Forex Bank in Norway buys foreign coins...

onobond

Came over from the US 2 weeks ago tomorrow. Haven't touched cash in that time. Rental car, gas, train tickets, convenience stores, cinemas, hamburger joints and more posh restaurants etc. Even stayed in two Scandic hotels with signs that the reception, bar and restaurant areas were "Cash Free Zones"

GUWonder

I have been skiing in Sweden for the week, and I haven't used cash except for one thing: ski bus fare for someone who didn't have a ski pass. I don't know if the Skistar bus has a bank card processing capability, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

I prefer to use cash over cards, if only because most of my cards don't require a PIN to be used to make purchases.

ryanbryan

Agree. Maybe once upon a time this was the case, but I think many other parts of the world have caught up. I was last there in May last year and was surprised that's still nowhere really used contactless payment, which is pretty common these days in many other places that were previously behind Scandinavia in card use. I did see a Visa stand in Kungsträdgården that was advertising contactless payment, so maybe it's starting to become a thing.

ksu

The banks have not agreed on which system to use, and the fact that card use is so high (and works pretty well) the incentive to change to an even better system is less.

A parallell example would be that the internet was later to catch on in France than in other countries because Minitel was well established there. Minitel, while less advanced, still offered much of the same functionality, and so slowed the more advanced technology in getting established.

ticino

Not true, at least in Stockholm waiters certainly expect tips, but it's unusual to leave cash.

The waiter will ask you how much you want to leave if they are typing the total amount into the machine themselves, although the normal thing is that they will let you type the total amount yourself.

vh_bu98

I was in Stockholm in July 2015 and I dined at Oaxen Krog and a few other places. I never had a waiter ask me how much I wanted to leave.

onobond

Mostly, the tendency to encourage tips from waiters, are in bars. There the waiters are younger and travel more frequently to destinations like MIA, where placards tell guests that a service fee of 17 (-20) % is added to the bill. In Sweden, as later in other Scandinavian countries, the service fee/tips was negotiated to be included in the menu price, for food as well as beverages.

The benefit of this system is that any wait/er/ress will have a sound ground for payment when on sick or maternity leave, as also be the correct base for having retirement pay, when that time cometh. Beeing a single waiter of 25, those things might seem less important today, but any older collegue will certainly not want the old system back

tigertanaka

I have visited Stockholm every 3/4 weeks for the past 3 years, normally staying for 2 nights on each occasion. On one of the early trips I took out about 1000 SEK out of the cash machine and it took me ages to spend it.

I have not used cash in Sweden for over two years (Arlanda Express, taxis, hotels, lunch places, restaurants, bars, recharging my travel pass). No one bats an eye even if you buy a pack of chewing gum on your card.

Many takeaway food places in central Stockholm are cash free and seem to be proud to advertise the fact.

GUWonder

Some places in Sweden refuse to take cards for purchase amounts less than say 30SEK. I'm encountering that more in 2016 and 2017 than in 2015, but the cutoff amount seems lower than it used to be when comparing some of the places to their prior practices.

I went to a convenience store to pick up some kind of sweet rolls last week, and my 26SEK purchase wasn't going to happen unless I had the cash or added to the purchase and getting stuff worth 30SEK or more.

Von_Schnitzelhausen

I am been living in Stockholm for over a year now and so far almost all places accept cards even for small amounts. If you go on road trips e.g. to the north there sometimes are stores that do not accept payment by card (but do accept SWISH payment).