[Mika @ Lund] Eco living from Sweden - October 2020

Hello, this is Mika.

It's October and the days are getting shorter and shorter.

The temperature is getting colder as well, and it's now too cold with just a thin coat.

Today, I wanted to talk about being paperless.

Recently, in many countries everything has become digital, and it has become very convenient.

In Sweden, the "Personnummer" system (individual number system = similar to "my number" system in Japan) is in progress, and numbers are assigned to all citizens and all residents. This system began in the late 1940s and from the late 1960s, all information have been digitized.

A number will be issued to a child immediately after birth, so infact, the Personnummer will be given even before the child's  name. Residents of Sweden cannot register as a resident without obtaining a residence permit and then applying for a Personnummer.  Everything is linked to Personnummer.

The Personnummer is necessary for everything from, opening a bank account, going to the hospital, as well as receiving "points" at an electric shop, supermarket, drug store, etc.  It is very convenient because you only have to show the barcode of the your Personnummer ID card.

KIVRA app on my phone

Recently, paperless in offices have become more popular, and all notifications and billing documents that have been sent by mail are now digital. It's all tied to this Personnummer, and all the documents are delivered in one app called "Kivra".

All important documents such as notifications from tax offices and pension offices, invoices from electric companies, etc can be checked through Kivra, and since the invoices are digital, you can pay at the online bank as it is.

I think it's a very convenient system because you can reduce the use of paper and find the documents you need quickly.

Screen shot of  Kivra website

The reason I wanted to write about paperless for this month's blog is because of the digitization of receipts.

Recently, a receipt function has been added to Kivra.

I've been shopping in various places, and since I don't need a receipt, the shop staff just throws away the printed ones, which was worrying me.

Also, for work-related shopping, I saved the receipt, then took a picture, digitized it, put it in the system, and then threw it away.

I was always worried about the waste of paper that generates every time, but now the receipts have been finally digitized!

That said, it's still just the beginning and there aren't many shops that are participating yet.  However, the other day when I shopped, the cashier didn't issue a paper receipt. Instead, the cashier informed me that "the receipt is in the app." There is no need to register individually for each store, all the store needs to do is, just turn on the receipt function in Kivra and an electronic receipt will be issued automatically. I think this is also a system that can be done because all the information is collected in Personnummer.

Screenshot from a store that is using Kivra

People who have not registered in the app are normally issued paper receipts, so it seems that it will be a long time before the paper receipts are fully abolished, but I hope that it will be available in many stores in the near future.

See you next month!