STOCKHOLM — Parishioners text tithes¹ to their churches. Homeless street vendors³ carry mobile credit-card readers. Even the Abba Museum, despite being a shrine⁴ to the 1970s pop group that wrote “Money, Money, Money,” considers cash so last-century that it does not accept bills and coins.

斯德哥尔摩——教区信众透过短信向教会缴纳什一税。无家可归的街头小贩随身携带移动信用卡刷卡机。作为70年代流行组合、《钱，钱，钱》(Money, Money, Money)的作者阿巴乐队(Abba)的圣祠，阿巴博物馆(Abba Museum)也认为现金“过时”而不接受纸币和硬币。

Few places are tilting⁵ toward a cashless future as quickly as Sweden, which has become hooked on the convenience of paying by app and plastic.

很少有地方像瑞典一样，迅速地朝着无现金的未来迈进。瑞典已经迷上了移动应用和卡片支付的便利。

This tech-forward country, home to the music streaming service Spotify and the maker⁶ of the Candy Crush mobile games, has been lured⁷ by the innovations that make digital payments easier. It is also a practical matter, as many of the country's banks no longer accept or dispense⁸ cash.

作为音乐串流服务Spotify和移动游戏糖果粉碎传奇(Candy Crush)的诞生地，这个崇尚技术进步的国家十分醉心于方便数码支付的创新。这也是一个现实的问题，因为许多瑞典的银行不再接受或分发现金。

At the Abba Museum, “we don't want to be behind the times by taking cash while cash is dying out,” said Bjorn Ulvaeus, a former Abba member who has leveraged⁹ the band's legacy¹⁰ into a sprawling¹¹ business empire, including the museum.

前阿巴乐队成员比约恩·乌尔维乌斯(Bjorn Ulvaeus)在阿巴博物馆说：“我们可不想落后于时代，现金已经快淘汰了还要收。”他利用乐队留下的传奇建立了一个庞大的商业帝国，其中包括这座博物馆。

Not everyone is cheering. Sweden's embrace of electronic payments has alarmed consumer organizations and critics who warn of a rising threat to privacy and increased vulnerability to sophisticated Internet crimes. Last year, the number of electronic fraud cases surged to 140,000, more than double the amount a decade ago, according to Sweden's Ministry¹² of Justice.

不是每个人都在欢呼。电子支付在瑞典的普及已经令消费者组织和批评人士心生警惕。他们警告侵犯隐私的威胁会上升，也会令高水平的网络犯罪更加猖狂。根据瑞典司法部，去年电子欺诈案件数量激增至14万，相比十年前增加了一倍。

Older adults and refugees in Sweden who use cash may be marginalized, critics say. And young people who use apps to pay for everything or take out loans via their mobile phones risk falling into debt.

批评人士说，在瑞典使用现金的老年人和难民可能会被边缘化。而使用移动应用以支付一切费用或通过手机借贷的年轻人，可能会面临陷入债务的风险。

“It might be trendy,” said Bjorn Eriksson, a former director of the Swedish police force and former president of Interpol. “But there are all sorts of risks when a society starts to go cashless.”

“这可能是很时髦，”前瑞典警察局局长和前国际刑警主席比约恩·埃里克松(Bjorn Eriksson)说。“但当社会不用现金时，也会面临种种风险。”

But advocates like Ulvaeus cite personal safety as a reason that countries should go cash-free. He switched to using only card and electronic payments after his son's Stockholm apartment was burglarized twice several years ago.

乌尔维乌斯这样的无现金倡导者则以人身安全为由，鼓励国家应该不再用现金。自从他儿子在斯德哥尔摩的公寓数年前两次被盗后，乌尔维乌斯就只用卡或电子付款了。

“There was such a feeling of insecurity,” said Ulvaeus, who carries no cash at all. “It made me think: What would happen if this was a cashless society, and the robbers couldn't sell what they stole?”

“当时就有种不安全的感觉。”现在已经完全不携带现金的乌尔维乌斯说。“这让我想到：如果这是一个无现金社会，而劫匪无法销赃，那会怎么样？”

Bills and coins now represent just 2 percent of Sweden's economy, compared with 7.7 percent in the United States and 10 percent in the euro area. This year, only a fifth of all consumer payments in Sweden have been made in cash, compared with an average of 75 percent in the rest of the world, according to Euromonitor International.

纸币和硬币现在只占了瑞典经济的2％，而在美国有7.7％，欧元区有10%。根据欧睿信息咨询公司(Euromonitor International)，今年瑞典所有的消费付款只有五分之一使用现金，反观在世界其他地区平均有75％以现金付款。

Cards are still king in Sweden — with nearly 2.4 billion credit and debit¹³ transactions in 2013, compared with 213 million 15 years earlier. But even plastic is facing competition, as a rising number of Swedes use apps for everyday commerce.

卡在瑞典仍然是主要交易工具——在2013年有近24亿信用卡和储蓄卡交易，15年前只有2.13亿。不过，卡也面临竞争，因为越来越多瑞典人在日常交易中使用移动应用。

At more than half of the branches of the country's biggest banks, including SEB, Swedbank, Nordea Bank and others, no cash is kept on hand, nor are cash deposits accepted. They say they are saving a significant amount on security by removing the incentive¹⁴ for bank robberies.

瑞典几大银行，包括瑞典北欧斯安银行(SEB)、瑞典银行(Swedbank)、北欧联合银行(Nordea Bank)等，有半数以上的分行不存现金，也不接受现金存款。他们说这显著节省了保安成本，因为劫匪抢劫银行的诱因没有了。

Last year, Swedish bank vaults¹⁵ held around 3.6 billion kronor in notes and coins, down from 8.7 billion in 2010, according to the Bank for International Settlements. Cash machines, which are controlled by a Swedish bank consortium, are being dismantled¹⁶ by the hundreds, especially in rural areas.

根据国际清算银行(Bank for International Settlements)，去年瑞典银行金库大约存着36亿瑞典克朗的纸币和硬币，而2010年有87亿。由瑞典银行财团控制的取款机有数百台将被拆除，尤其是在农村地区。

Eriksson, who now heads the Association of Swedish Private Security Companies, a lobbying group for firms providing security for cash transfers, accuses banks and credit card companies of trying to “price cash out of the market” to make way for cards and electronic payments, which generate fee income.

现为瑞典私营保安公司协会(Association of Swedish Private Security Companies)会长的埃里克松指责银行和信用卡公司试图“用高定价将现金挤出市场”，让位给卡和电子支付。卡和电子支付能产生费用收入。协会是一个代表现金运输护卫公司的游说团体。

“I don't think that's something they should decide on their own,” he said. “Should they really be able to use their market force to turn Sweden into a cashless society?”

“我不认为这事应该它们自行决定，”他说。“它们应该利用其市场力量，使瑞典成为一个无现金社会吗？”

The government has not sought to stem the cashless tide. If anything, it has benefited from more efficient tax collection, because electronic transactions leave a trail; in countries like Greece and Italy, where cash is still heavily used, tax evasion¹⁷ remains¹⁸ a big problem.

政府没有试图阻止无现金潮流。事实上由于税款收集的效率提高，它还是个受益者，因为电子交易会留下痕迹；而在仍大量使用现金的希腊和意大利等国，偷税漏税仍然是一个大问题。

Leif Trogen, an official at the Swedish Bankers' Association, acknowledged that banks were earning substantial fee income from the cashless revolution. But because it costs money for banks and businesses to conduct commerce in cash, reducing its use makes financial sense, Trogen said.

瑞典银行家协会(Swedish Bankers' Association)官员雷夫·特罗根(Leif Trogen)承认，银行从无现金化革命中能获得可观的费用收入。特罗根说，但由于银行和企业用现金开展交易是有成本的，减少现金的使用在财务上是合理的。

Cash is certainly not dead. The Swedish central bank, the Riksbank, predicts it will decline fast but still be circulating in 20 years. Recently, the Riksbank issued newly redesigned coins and notes.

现金当然还没有死。瑞典央行瑞典国家银行(Riksbank)，预计现金流通量将下降得很快，但未来20年仍然会流通。瑞典国家银行近日刚刚推出硬币和纸币的新设计。

But for an increasing number of consumers, cash is no longer a habit.

但是，对于越来越多的消费者来说，现金付款已不再是消费习惯。

At the University of Gothenburg, students said they almost exclusively used cards and electronic payments. “No one uses cash,” said Hannah Ek, 23. “I think our generation can live without it.”

在哥德堡大学(University of Gothenburg)的学生说，他们几乎只用卡和电子支付。“我们不使用现金了，”23岁的汉娜·耶克(Hannah Ek)说。“我觉得我们这一代人可以不用现金了。”

The downside, she conceded, was that it was easy to spend without thinking. “I do spend more,” Ek said. “But if I had a 500 krona bill, I'd think twice about spending it all.” (Five hundred kronor is about $58.)

她承认缺点是很容易不假思索就花钱了。“我花的更多了，”耶克说。“但是，如果我有一张500克朗纸币，我花钱会三思而后。”（五百克朗约合58美元。）

The shift has rippled¹⁹ through even the most unlikely corners of the Swedish economy.

连瑞典经济中最意想不到的角落，都在被这种转变影响着。

Stefan Wikberg, 65, was homeless for four years after losing his job as an IT technician. He has a place to live now and sells magazines for Situation Stockholm, a charitable organization, and began using a mobile card reader to take payments, after noticing that almost no one carried cash.

65岁的斯特凡·维克贝格(Stefan Wikberg)作为IT技术人员失业后曾有四年无家可归。他现在有住的地方，而且为慈善组织“斯德哥尔摩情势”(Situation Stockholm)出售杂志。他发现几乎没有人携带现金后，就开始利用移动刷卡机收款。

“Now people can't get away,” said Wikberg, who carries a sign saying he accepts Visa, MasterCard and American Express. “When they say, `I don't have change,' I tell them they can pay with card or even by SMS,” he said, referring to text messages. His sales have grown by 30 percent since he adopted the card reader two years ago.

维克贝格说：“现在人们没借口了。”他带着一个牌子，上面写着他接受Visa、万事达卡(MasterCard)和美国运通(American Express)。“当他们说，‘我没有零钱，’我告诉他们，他们可以用卡甚至用短信支付。”自两年前使用刷卡机收款后，他的销售增长了30％。

Despite the convenience, even some who stand to gain from a cashless society see drawbacks.

虽然方便，但即使一些支持无现金社会的人也看见了弊端。

“Sweden has always been at the forefront of technology, so it's easy to embrace this,” said Jacob de Geer, a founder²⁰ of iZettle, which makes a mobile-powered card reader.

IZettle的创始人之一雅各布·德吉尔(Jacob de Geer)说：“瑞典一直走在技术的最前沿，所以很容易接受电子支付，”iZettle开发用移动设备供电的刷卡器。

“But Big Brother can watch exactly what you're doing if you purchase things only electronically,” he said.

他说：“但如果你购买东西只用电子付款，‘老大哥’将掌握你的一举一动。”

But for Ulvaeus, the music magnate, such concerns are overblown.

但对于音乐巨子乌尔维乌斯来说，这种担忧被夸大了。

“Everything speaks in favor of a cashless society,” he said as he strolled past the Abba Museum to retrieve²¹ his car. “It's a utopian thought, but we're very close to it.”

“一切都支持无现金社会，”他在漫步穿过阿巴博物馆去取车的路上说。“这是一个乌托邦式的想法，但我们已经非常接近。”

He paused at a hot-dog stand for a snack. But when he was ready to pay, the card reader was broken.

他停在一个热狗摊前买小吃。但是当他准备付钱时，刷卡机坏了。

“Sorry,” the vendor² said. “You'll have to use cash.”

“对不起，”小贩说。“你得付现金。”