The Riksbank has previously emphasised that measures are needed to maintain a functioning cash chain and to ensure that companies and authorities that accept cash also have sufficient access to cash services.

In the Council on Legislation referral “Åtgärder för att stärka kontanternas funktionssätt” (Measures to strengthen the functioning of cash) from December 2025, the Government submitted a number of legislative proposals on the availability of services for daily takings and petty cash, cash deposits for private individuals, and cash obligations for grocery stores and pharmacies. The Riksbank sees this legislative proposal as an important step towards strengthening the cash chain in Sweden. However, complementary measures are needed to strengthen the role of cash in the availability and resilience of the payment system.

The Riksbank considers that the requirements on which cash-withdrawal points the banks can count towards the national target of 99.7 per cent of the population having no more than 25 kilometres to the nearest withdrawal point should be tightened in regulations and supervision. This would require ATMs to be accessible to more than just customers of specific banks, to have reasonable opening hours and to have the capacity to dispense cash to those who need it. Furthermore, the Riksbank, like the Cash Inquiry, considers that a requirement should also be introduced that the banks obliged to provide cash services must have a contractual relationship with other cash service providers. The reason for this is that ICA stores are considered to be cash withdrawal points, despite the fact that most bank customers cannot withdraw cash there and those who can can only withdraw limited amounts.

The background and assessments are also described in section “Continued challenges for cash”.