The right to use Swiss franc cash will be enshrined in the country's constitution after voters support a measure to protect the role of cash in society.
Official results show that 73.4% of voters support legal amendments in the recent referendum. Swiss Federal Council member Karin Keller-Sutter announced the voting results at a press conference on the evening of March 8.
The proposal to include the right to use cash in the constitution was made by the Swiss government to counter a similar initiative by the Swiss Freedom Movement campaign group.
This group collected more than 100,000 signatures, enough to trigger a national referendum on the protection of cash.
However, the group's initial proposal only won 46% of the votes, after the government said that some contents in the initiative went too far.
With the results on March 8, Switzerland will join the group of European countries such as Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, which have already enshrined the right to use cash in their constitutions.
In Austria, politicians are also debating the possibility of doing the same in the context of people's payment habits increasingly shifting to digital, especially since the pandemic.
The trend of payment digitization has also sparked many "Big Brother"-style conspiracy theories, suggesting that governments want to control people by eliminating cash.
The European Central Bank (ECB)'s plan to issue a digital version of the euro further increases these concerns. The EU regulator has proposed a bill to ensure that physical cash is maintained in social life throughout the bloc.
In Switzerland, the use of cash has also decreased sharply in the past decade. According to data from the Swiss National Bank, in 2017, more than 70% of transactions at checkout counters were made in cash. By 2024, cash will only account for about 30% of transactions at stores.
The Swiss Freedom Movement organization has launched many campaigns such as demanding the dismissal of ministers who are not popular with the people, banning electronic voting and protecting people from forms of professional or social punishment if they refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19. However, these initiatives were not put to a vote.
