"Banks of old" had no insured deposits. Regular financial panics meant that runs on banks meant most depositors sometimes lost all their money.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banking_crises

> most banks in Sweden have today a continuously maximum of $1500 limit per week on cash withdraws

Wait, what? Are you seriously saying that if you want to pay cash for a $3,000 notebook computer, you have to make 2 different withdrawals a week apart to do that? How is that workable? What happens when you have an emergency and need more cash than that all at once? I mean, it doesn't come up frequently, but it comes up from time to time. Does writing a large check count? Or only physically withdrawing the money at a teller?

You can reasonably live through your entire life there and never, ever, not even once need to handle $3000 of cash (and of course, not a single paper check ever as well).

Cash is used for small everyday purchases, but everything else is expected to be digital - bank accounts and debit/credit cards - I mean, if you're buying something big, wiring the money is free or almost free and fast, but getting that amount of cash requires significant fees and hassle; exactly the opposite of how it's in USA.

You could withdraw thousands of euros in cash and buy large things that way, but it would look strange because it is strange, as most people in the same situation would not do it and there seems to be no obvious reason why someone would want to do it that way as for (almost) everybody all their income is in the "banking world" and all the large amounts of physical cash exist only in some social niches that "the average person" meets only rarely or not at all.

No, it means you go into the bank itself and explain your situation. The limits are to stop someone who steals your bank card from going to an ATM and draining your account.

Its not that easy. You have to physical go to a office that deal with cash. Its not permitted to be done through the phone, and only a small subset of bank offices deal with cash.

You also don't get the cash immediately, but have to wait a minimum of several bank days. Also, as regulation against money laundry require, you must tell the bank as to the purpose of the withdraw and they are permitted to deny it.

Its much more than just "stop someone who steals your bank card".

That makes a little more sense (that you can go to the bank to physically get more cash). It is disturbing that others are saying that most banks don't have cash and that they can deny you for basically no reason. That's very odd to me. It's not usually an issue because of credit cards, but it is still strange. Interesting to know.

Even if you go into the bank, they most likely can’t give you the cash because the office doesn’t have any. And I bet you they can’t alter the limits in the ATMs either.

I strongly suspect the limits are there to prevent bank runs, and not for any customer-service purpose.

I challenge you to find a bank office in a normal city in Sweden which actually handles cash. They can be found, but it’s not easy, and not all banks even have such cash-handling branches anymore, even in large cities.

So yes, in Sweden it is seriously not possible to get your hands on large amounts of cash on short notice.

It's also becoming more and more common with stores and restaurants that don't accept cash as payment.

> Wait, what? Are you seriously saying that if you want to pay cash for a $3,000 notebook computer, you have to make 2 different withdrawals a week apart to do that?

Why would you want to pay for a notebook computer in cash? Sounds like quite an odd scenario.

I guess a used vehicle purchase would be the more likely scenario. At least in the U.S. with person to person sales, you can usually negotiate much more favorable terms with cash.

> I guess a used vehicle purchase would be the more likely scenario. At least in the U.S. with person to person sales, you can usually negotiate much more favorable terms with cash.

Why is that? Tax evasion?

Those limits are there so that when someone steals your bank card, they can't drain your account. And in just about every situation, you can personally override that limit if you absolutely need to.

Please tell me with which bank you can override this limit, as I know several people and one company that would love to know. Current solution is to go to the ATM and take out the maximum amount each week, time that the company could find much better use for.