Not all countries are like Sweden

The use of cash varies greatly in the world, but it is low in the Nordic countries compared to many other countries – in Sweden and Norway, the use of cash is among the lowest in the world. Then it is easy to forget that cash is needed in many other parts of the world and especially when we are traveling and make smaller expenses such as taxis, tips, the beach, markets, grocery stores and restaurant visits.

Spend your holiday on holiday – not looking for ATMs – so remember to arrange your currency before you travel.

Cash is needed on the trip

Why would I need cash? Of course, it differs from country to country, but most often you need cash at least when you have to pay smaller expenses such as taxis, tips, sun loungers and food on the beach, at markets, in grocery stores but also in restaurants, especially in smaller shops and in smaller towns.

Sometimes it is not possible to get hold of a country's own currency before departure. In many cases, you can then supplement your travel fund with a major currency such as US dollars or Euro. Find your destination among our destinations, contact customer service or ask us in store and we can help you with any alternative currencies.

ATMs can usually be found at your destination. However, many ATMs charge their own fees, plus your card also often charges a fee for cash withdrawals abroad. Therefore, always check what fees the withdrawals are associated with, so that you do not get a bad surprise when you check your bank statement.

Last but not least, we think that the holiday should be devoted to holidays and not to looking for ATMs - so plan your currency purchase in peace and quiet before you travel.

Three reasons to buy currency before you travel

Comfortably

You don't have to look for ATMs and can devote yourself to your holiday instead.

Affordable

You secure the exchange rate and do not have to worry about high mark-ups in the ATMs.

Viable

You almost always need more cash than you think abroad.

Exchange currency

What is the FOREX cash index based on?

The data on which the FOREX Cash Index is based is published by Statista which has retrieved data from the European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of Thailand, Nadowy Bank Polski, Swiss National Bank, Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank of Canada, Bank of Korea, Federal Reserve System's FedCash Services (FCS) and UK Finance. In addition, reports from the G4S World Cash Report, World Bank and Bank of Albania.

The ECB's data, which are based on the study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area, include daily consumer goods, consumer durables and hotels and restaurants.

In the case of groceries, tourists are more likely to make smaller purchases and may therefore be more likely to pay with cash than is the case for larger purchases. The purchase of consumer durables is not as common for tourists as it is for the local population. Hotels and restaurants are added together and do not take into account the fact that the cost of a restaurant visit is more often paid with cash than the hotel room, which is more often paid for with other means of payment. Therefore, it is not unlikely that the proportion of payments made with cash is even higher for travellers and tourists than reported in the survey.

In addition, based on the statistics reported in the cash index, we can deduce that the average of all countries' cash use is approximately 50%, which means that approximately half of all purchases abroad are made with cash.

See all currencies in the course list