All banks must handle cash, says Riksbank

Bloomberg

Sweden’s central bank said it wants all banks, and not just the biggest financial institutions, to be obliged to handle cash, as lawmakers seek ways to limit the nation’s rapid development into a cashless society.
Commenting on a proposal by the parliament committee reviewing the central bank laws to force the biggest banks to handle cash, Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves said it “mainly welcomes” the plans but “wishes to go a step further.” “It’s our opinion that all banks and other credit institutions that offer payment accounts shall be obliged to handle cash,” Ingves said in
a statement.
The Swedish Bankers’ Association said in a consultation response on October 15 that the proposal to make just a few banks responsible for providing cash could be in breach of EU rules. In an interview earlier this month, the committee’s chairman, Mats Dillen, said the proposal could be adjusted to include all banks if there are legal problems with forcing only some banks to provide cash.
After the committee proposed a requirement that companies shall be able to deposit their daily cash takings in their bank accounts, the Riksbank said banks sho-
uld also be obliged to ensure that private individuals can make deposits .