Denmark records its first year without bank robberies

Denmark has recorded its first year without bank robberies as the use of cash has declined in recent years, the country’s finance workers’ union said.

The increasingly cashless society has prompted banks to halt their cash services, the union said in a statement Monday, leaving little potential prey for robbers.

“It’s just incredible. Because every time it happens, it’s an extreme burden for the employees involved,” said Steen Lund Olsen, vice-president of the Finansforbundet union, in a statement.

Denmark has recorded its first year without bank robberies as the use of cash has declined in recent years, the country’s finance workers’ union said (file picture).

“It’s something you can’t even begin to understand the emotional impact of unless you’ve experienced it yourself,” he added.

The union said there were 221 bank robberies in 2000, which has slowly declined to fewer than 10 a year since 2017.

Denmark’s central bank reported in March last year that the use of cash almost halved from 23 percent of payments in 2017 to 12 percent in 2021.

The bank said the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the abandonment of cash.

The finance workers’ union noted that while robberies have become rare, “many bank employees who have been robbed continue to suffer the consequences.”

Some still suffer from symptoms such as “anxiety, sadness, irritability, restlessness and insomnia.”