Denmark marks first year with no bank robberies amid declining usage of hard cash in recent years

As the usage of hard cash has declined in recent years, Denmark has had its first year without bank robberies, according to the nation's financial workers organisation.

The union claimed in a statement on Monday that as society has become less dependent on cash, institutions have downsized their cash services, providing less potential for robberies.

"It's nothing short of amazing. Because every time it happens, it's an extreme strain on the employees involved," Steen Lund Olsen, vice president of the union, Finansforbundet, said in a statement to AFP.

"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 reported 221 bank robberies in 2000, which have gradually reduced to fewer than 10 each year since 2017.

The usage of cash has almost decreased from 23 per cent of payments in 2017 to 12 per cent in 2021, according to a study from Denmark's central bank in March of last year.

While robberies have decreased in frequency, the finance workers' organisation observed that "many bank employees who have been robbed continue to suffer with the consequences." The symptoms includeanxiety, sadness, irritability, restlessness, and insomnia.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE: