Citizens are finally figuring out what could happen if the digital system got turned off, or if they were denied access to it. Citizens in other countries should pay close attention. ? TN Editor

It is hard to argue that you cannot trust the government when the government isn't really all that bad. This is the problem facing the small but growing number of Swedes anxious about their country's rush to embrace a cash-free society.

Most consumers already say they manage without cash altogether, while shops and cafes increasingly refuse to accept notes and coins because of the costs and risk involved. Until recently, however, it has been hard for critics to find a hearing.

"The Swedish government is a rather nice one, we have been lucky enough to have mostly nice ones for the past 100 years," says Christian Engström, a former MEP for the Pirate Party and an early opponent of the cashless economy.

"In other countries there is much more awareness that you cannot trust the government all the time. In Sweden it is hard to get people mobilised."