Swedes urged to deposit 41m invalid banknotes

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A small pile of old 50-krona notesImage source, AFP/Getty Images
Image caption,

It's time for Swedes to check their pockets for now-invalid currency like this 50-krona note

Swedes are being urged to deposit millions of old banknotes which are still in circulation despite a looming deadline to redeem them.

Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, says that 41 million old notes - in denominations of 20, 50 and 1,000 krona - are sitting in people's wallets and piggy banks, even though they've not being legal tender since June. In total they're worth 1.3bn Swedish krona ($155m; £117m), the bank says, external. The new designs that replaced them were introduced last year.

The deadline for people to deposit the old notes into their accounts is 31 August - after that they can only be redeemed via the Riksbank, where people will be charged a fee and may face extra checks under money-laundering legislation.

Swedes will see more new notes and coins introduced in October, and the central bank wants people to start using up the old versions now, to avoid a repeat of the current situation. It says 1.6 billion coins will become invalid in June 2017.

Despite all the new currency, The Local points out, external that Sweden is a largely cash-free society, with only 2% of all payments made in cash. But a Riksbank spokesman said in March that, notwithstanding the popularity of electronic payments, the bank expects cash to "stick around until the 2030s".

All six of the new Swedish krona banknotesImage source, AFP/Getty Images
Image caption,

Sweden's new notes are being phased in gradually - Hollywood icon Greta Garbo features on the 100 krona note

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