Company News • 13.11.2013
ABBA Museum is a rich man’s utopia
Cash is not accepted at the ABBA museum in Stockholm. The Follow the Money blog describes how museum visitors are tracked and registered all around the world through their card payments
In an earlier blog post I commented on the card-only policy at the ABBA museum in Stockholm, Sweden. The ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus recently published an article “Sluta med smutsiga pengar” (stop using dirty money) in the business paper Dagens Industri.
And there was an immediate and immense response from the cash industry, politicians, professors, and authors, just to name a few.
So let’s follow the money. That is what I do in this blog. The visitors to the ABBA museum need to have a debit or credit card to pay the entrance fee. Cash is not accepted. Let’s assume the visitor is an adult financially stable Swede to make it simple. The visitor’s card has annual fee of EUR20 or more depending on services by the card issuer.
Cards track you around the world
When the card is used to pay the entrance fee of SEK195 (EUR20) the transaction data has to be stored by law. The cardholder has to be personally identified. The card payment processing company that the museum uses will submit the transaction to the card issuer. The museum pays a transaction fee to the card payment processing company.
The ABBA museum is sponsored by EuroCard Priceless Stockholm. Not a surprise. So I assume that ABBA museum receives money from EuroCard. If you have a MasterCard you get a 5% discount on the entrance fee. If you join the EuroCard Priceless Stockholm programme, you can get a 20% discount. I bet that EuroCard likes that Björn Ulvaeus is so vocal about the cashless society. It plays right in their hands to get more card holders.
By agreeing the EuroCard Priceless Stockholm terms, you enter an agreement with MasterCard Europe Sprl in Belgium. You agree to that your personal details may be shared with MasterCard International and Affinion. Both of these are based in the US and your data may be stored on their servers. Given the NSA PRISM surveillance programme this means that US government has them as well. As per rules from the Swedish Finansinspektionen (Financial Supervisory Authority), the Swedish government also has access.
So, all in all, your visit to the museum will be recorded by two companies in Sweden, one in Belgium and most likely two in the US. And by governmental entities in at least Sweden and the US. Your visit will be included in payments between three to five companies.
Cash lets everyone in
Alternatively, if you visit the larger and beautiful Nordiska Muséet which is close to the ABBA Museum, you can conveniently pay with cash. The bank notes are issued by the national bank without any fees. The price SEK100 (EUR10), half price compared to the ABBA Museum. The payment is only recorded by the museum. No personal data is stored at all. And on Wednesday evenings it’s free admission. Excellent if you don’t have any money at all. So everyone, regardless of financial status, can enjoy the wonders of Nordiska Muséet. The ABBA museum on the other hand, apparently only wants those with Money, Money, Money.
About the Blog: The Follow the Money Blog keeps you informed and up to date on cash news in Europe. As the CTO at CashGuard, Björn Eriksson is at the forefront of the cash trends. Here, he shares his expert commentary on news, trends and developments in all things related to cash.
channels: cash management, cash handling systems
