Sweden could be the world’s very first cashless society as recent statistics point out that 80% of purchases in the Scandinavian country are paid for electronically.

“Sweden and the rest of the Scandinavian leads the world in terms of cashless trading,” Bengt Nilverall at the Swedish Federation of Trade said, reports English-language Sweden newspaper The Local.

The Local also noted that Swedes use their debit and credit cards almost everyday – which leads to an average transaction of 260 per person per year.

Business Insider Australia notes that electronic payments such as Swish are bypassing the need for people to use ATMS for cash. On the street level, even fruit and veg traders and even retailers of the homeless magazine Situation Stockholm accept credit card payments.

The business news site also said that while going cash-free comes with an increase in security costs, it’s more than offset by the drop in cash-handling costs. Cash handling costs for Sweden are estimated to be around $1.2 billion or 0.3% of the nation’s GDP.

The Local points though that a cash free society would lead to increased security for both staff and customers.

Sweden’s nearing move to become the world’s first country free of the need for a physical currency comes with speculations on conspiracies and end of the world rhetoric. Such can be read from a site like the New American.

In writes in its story posted on July 2, 2014 titled “The Establishment Pushing ‘Cashless Society’ To Control Humanity:

“The global establishment is increasingly pushing the notion of what it calls a ‘cashless society’ — a world in which all payments and transactions would be conducted electronically, creating a permanent record for governments to inspect and track at will. Multiple governments from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Americas are explicitly working toward that goal, and in recent months, even more have joined the effort. Powerful globalist forces and organizations including the United Nations are helping, too. However, analysts are warning that the implications of such a shift would be nightmarish for liberty and privacy.”

Though Sweden maybe 80% through in becoming a cashless society, one of its official said that the development maybe unlikely until at least 2030.