Learning Expedition - Discovering cashless payments the Swedish way

03 / 11 / 2022

From 27 to 29 September, a group of Worldliners gathered in Stockholm- set to become the world's first cashless society- for a fast-paced trip focused on payment innovations and the cashless society. Among other things, they discovered the Riksbank's e-krona project and meet with some inspiring local players and experts of this cutting-edge city.

Learning Expedition- Discovering cashless payments the Swedish way

3 days to discover Stockholm’s innovative payment scene

From 27 to 29 September, a group of Worldliners gathered in Stockholm for a short but fast-paced trip focused on payment innovations. Stockholm was chosen because it is set to become the world's first cashless society. During the course of those 3 days, the winners of the WIN Awards 2022, our internal innovation contest, were immersed in a Learning eXpedition organized by WIN, the Worldline Innovation Network, that enabled them to meet with some of Stockholm’s innovative and entrepreneurial companies and experts, while enjoying time to explore the top-rated spots of the beautiful Swedish capital and Europe’s most innovative city.

Watch the highlights of their trip and get inspired by their discoveries!

WIN Learning eXpedition, a journey towards inspiration

A WIN Learning Expedition combines innovation with the discovery of a major European city. Through this immersive trip, several of Worldline’s most talented innovators are invited to discover some of the best innovative aspects and resources of a city and to make contacts, start discussions, imagine new ideas and identify new opportunities.

During three intensive days, the winners of the 2022 WIN Awards got the opportunity to meet various inspiring local players of this cutting-edge city, visit innovative hotspots and discuss the future of payment and the cashless society with university professors, economists and finance experts.

 

Discoveries’ highlights

In Stockholm, our winning Worldliners had the opportunity to discuss the cashless industry with Daniel Nordholm, Head of Merchant Services at Worldline Sweden and visit the emblematic mobile payment system (SWISH) at Epicenter, Stockholm’s most innovative community which hosts key hotspots and helps them supercharge the growth of their local entrepreneurial ecosystems. They discovered the Riksbank's e-krona project, one of the first CBDCs and listened to a talk by Niklas Arvidsson professor and researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) who spoke about the cashless society.Together with researchers from the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Anthropology (UCPH) they then went on to explore the social consequences of a cashless economy. Finally, they met the Swedish House of Finance (SHoF) to exchange about the payment market in Sweden as well as stablecoins.

The trip also included the WIN Awards ceremony. Pascal Mauzé, Worldline’s Group Head of Sales, Marketing & Communication gave the awards to each winner in person. Participants then enjoyed a visit of some of the lesser-known places of old Stockholm.

 

Why you should visit Stockholm too

There are so many reasons to go to Stockholm. Stockholm ranks highest in the European Innovation Scoreboard as Sweden continues to be the leading country, performing well above the EU average. Innovation is in the air in Stockholm, fuelled by a strong profile in tech and a culture of cooperation. It’s what led to the birth of unicorns like Spotify, Skype and Klarna, and how the city earned its global reputation as a breeding ground for entrepreneurial talent.

Stockholm also has a rich history with fantastic architecture, museums, the Royal Palace and the medieval urban core of Gamla Stan. Basically, it is where the urban pulse meets serenity.

 

WIN Awards, Worldline’s innovation competition

The WIN Awards are Worldline’s internal annual innovation competition. This competition has been designed to promote innovation throughout the company at the global level, highlight advanced or completed innovative projects and reward the best of them. The WIN Awards are opened to everyone in Worldline. Employees can team up to post a project. Each innovation counts, of all kinds, provided it was significantly advanced or completed in the previous year. Since their creation, the WIN Awards have gathered 4,000+ participants from 20+ countries and awarded 150+ innovators.

 

Win Awards 2022

 

You can find more insights about this trip and the previous ones by searching for the #WorldlineLearningExpedition hashtag on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

Find out our previous WIN Learning eXpeditions: