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Check your wallet – this Swedish money is useless as of today

Sweden's banknote and coin changeover is nearly completed, and June 30th was the last day to use the remaining old notes and coins for payments.

Published: 1 July 2017 13:55 CEST

Check your wallet – this Swedish money is useless as of today

Old 5-kronor and 1-krona coins. Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT

Sweden's on-going banknote and coin changeover, which began in 2015, has entered its final phase. The last of the remaining old coins, as well as the old 100-kronor and 500-kronor, are invalid as of July 1st.

But far from all shops are equipped to deal with the change, and the Swedish Trade Federation (Svensk Handel) warns that not enough new coins are in circulation yet, reports Aftonbladet.

“I don't think the shops will have enough coins on Saturday and in the nearest future,” payments expert Bengt Nilervall at Svensk Handel told Aftonbladet.

Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, is aware of the risk.

“Our ambition was to give all parties as much information as possible so this would not happen. But now we will have to adjust to the situation,” Riksbank spokesperson Christina Wejshammar told Aftonbladet.

Old 500-kronor and 100-kronor notes

These old 500-kronor and 100-kronor are invalid as of July 1st. Photo: Claus Gertsen/Scanpix/TT

If you have bunch of old 1-, 2- and 5-kronor coins lying about, these can still be deposited in a bank until August 31st, 2017.

The old 100-kronor and 500-kronor notes are also invalid in shops as of July 1st, but have a later bank deposit deadline, on June 30th, 2018.

A map where you can find your nearest coin-deposit location is available at Myntkartan.se.

How to protect your Swedish savings when the stock market tumbles

Stock market volatility can be unsettling, especially when it hits close to home.

On Monday, the Stockholm stock exchange mirrored global market turmoil, with the OMXS index dropping 4.8 percent in morning trading. By 11 am, there was a slight recovery, but the index remained 2.6 percent down.

READ MORE: Stockholm stock exchange opens in the red amid global market jitters

Big names in Swedish industry weren’t spared: Boliden, a major mining company, dropped 3 percent, defence giant Saab fell 1.5 percent, and engineering firm Sandvik declined by 2.6 percent. In the banking sector, SEB took a 2.4 percent hit, while Swedbank dropped 3.6 percent.

This turbulence in the Swedish market came after significant drops in Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, which experienced its most significant one-day fall since the 1987 Black Monday Crash, and similar declines in markets across South Korea, Frankfurt, London, and anticipated losses on Wall Street.

In these uncertain times, many Swedish consumers with money invested in the market wonder whether they should do something to safeguard their savings.

Avoid impulsive decisions, expert warns

Stock market volatility can raise concerns about the safety of your savings, but according to SEB household economist Américo Fernández, there’s no need to panic.

“Should they be worried? I mean, no. I would say that this is how the stock market works: there’s a lot of uncertainty and risk connected,” he told The Local.

“When you have savings on the global stock exchanges, this will happen, especially when we’ve had at least six months of really, really good returns – maybe even too good. Then, this is a little bit expected.

“But of course, it’s always dramatic when we have such developments in the stock market in just one or two days.”

Slow and steady wins the (investment) race

For those wondering how to protect themselves against such crashes, Fernández emphasised a consistent and steady approach to investing.

“The most common thing, the best strategy for the broad masses, is to save on a monthly basis. And this is what many Swedes do; our surveys show that 9 out of 10 Swedes save on the stock market every month. This is precisely what you should do: invest in a mutual fund, which is quite common in Sweden,” he said.

“In circumstances such as these, you buy more at a lower price, instead of timing the stock market, which is almost impossible, continue your monthly investments through mutual funds. That’s a good way of diversifying your portfolio.”

READ ALSO: Will the krona’s decline stop Riksbank from cutting rates?

Ignore the alarmist headlines

The SEB household economist also advised against reacting hastily to alarming headlines.

“Another thing that households should be aware of is that when you see alarming headlines, you should sit and calmly ride the wave out.

“It’s understandable that a lot of people are affected by herd mentality when we have these negative headlines. Everyone, but especially households with tiny savings, acts and sells, and then they buy again when the headlines are positive, when the stock exchange is at high levels…

“That is the opposite of what you should do. Try to neglect these things and be cool in these circumstances, even though it seems bad and hurts your wallet. However, if it hurts your wallet too much, that might be a signal that you have too much money in the stock market (laughs), which can be common for younger investors. Although they have had it pretty good recently,” he noted.

This advice is not only applicable to Sweden but also relevant across Scandinavia, according to Fernández.

“I think it’s applicable. Across Scandinavia, all Nordic countries save a lot of money on the stock exchange, partially because the pension system isn’t fully funded by the government,” he said.

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