Card and phone payments have replaced cash in shop after shop.
For most customers the change is pure .
Two groups lose something real, however.
Older people and those without a bank account are pushed out of ordinary shops.
Small traders also pay a fee on every card , which cash never charged.
A less obvious risk appears when the network fails.
Several countries have had that stopped payments for a whole afternoon.
Cash is the only system that keeps working without electricity or a signal.
Sweden, the most country in Europe, has now reversed part of its policy.
Banks there must access to notes within a certain distance.
Some shops are also required to accept coins and notes for essential goods.
The aim is not to slow the shift but to keep a second route open.
A payment system with no is efficient right up to the day it stops.