The union of bank employees in Denmark announced that the number of bank robberies has decreased due to a decrease in the use of cash in recent years. The almost cashless country has led banks to curtail their cash services and robbers don’t pay the risk
Denmark is “celebrating” its first year without a bank robbery, as the use of cash has decreased in recent years, the country’s bank workers’ union said. The virtually cashless country has led banks to curtail their cash services, leaving little potential loot for robbers, the union said last Monday.
“It’s nothing short of amazing, because every time a robbery happens, it’s an extreme burden on the workers involved,” said Steen Lund Olsen, vice president of the union. “It’s something you can’t even begin to understand the emotional impact of if you haven’t experienced it yourself,” he added.
The union said there were 221 bank robberies in 2000, a number that has slowly dropped to less than 10 a year since 2017. Denmark’s central bank reported in March last year that the use of cash would drop from 23% of payments in 2017 to 12% in 2021. In addition, the corona epidemic accelerated the abandonment of cash, the bank said.
The Union of Treasury Employees noted that while robberies have become rare, “many bank employees who have been robbed continue to struggle with the consequences.” Some still suffer from symptoms such as “anxiety, sadness, irritability, restlessness and insomnia.”