Right to pay with cash in Norway (2026)

You have the right to pay with cash in ordinary shops and other staffed sales locations, for amounts up to 20,000 kroner. The rule is in the Financial Contracts Act (finansavtaleloven) § 2-1 third paragraph and has been in force since 1 October 2024. A sign saying "card only" does not override it.

Yes, you have the right to pay with cash in the shop

If the shop accepts card or mobile payment in the location, it must also accept notes and coins. The law states:

"In a sales location where a business operator on a permanent basis sells goods or services to consumers, the consumer shall be offered the option to pay with legal tender if payment can be made for the goods or services by other payment methods in or in immediate proximity to the sales location."

The right applies to amounts up to and including 20,000 kroner, and it cannot be waived to your disadvantage. A sign saying the shop "only takes cards" has no effect.

The right applies even if you do not yet have a bank card, BankID or your own account. In the meantime, see how you open a bank account in Norway. Note that "cash" means notes and coins — different from cash support, a financial support for parents with small children.

Four things must be in place before the shop has an obligation

The obligation only applies when all four conditions below are met. The Consumer Authority (the state's consumer protection authority) uses this checklist:

• The business operator sells a good or a service.
• The sale takes place from a sales location, that is, "a building that consumers can physically visit and enter".
• The sales point is established on a permanent basis.
• The payment is made in the sales location.

A sales location means more than grocery shops: cinemas, restaurants, hotels, fitness centres and wellness service locations are also covered, as long as you can pay in the location. If you are standing outside in front of a kiosk or ice cream stand, it is not a sales location — nor even if the stand is there every summer.

Self-checkout is not a loophole

A self-checkout in a staffed shop does not give the shop the right to refuse cash. The exception applies to "unattended sales locations": the entire location must be fully self-service, "without a representative of the business operator being present".

The table shows the most common exceptions.

The limit of 20,000 kroner applies to your right, not a prohibition — the shop can accept more voluntarily. Dealers of goods cannot, however, receive 40,000 kroner or more in cash, nor even split into several payments (Anti-Money Laundering Act (hvitvaskingsloven) § 5).

Some require full advance payment at the dentist or hairdresser precisely to take away your cash right. The Consumer Authority believes such a condition may be unlawful under the Marketing Act (markedsføringsloven) § 22.

Can I pay with cash on the bus or train?

No, you do not have the right to pay with cash on board a bus, train or tram. Payment for transport is not covered by finansavtaleloven, says the Consumer Authority. Public transport was deliberately excluded and placed under separate regulatory provisions in the Transport Act (yrkestransportlova) § 35 and the Railway Act (jernbaneloven) § 7 b, both in force from 1 October 2024. Whether such a regulation has been issued is unclear.

If you buy the ticket in advance at a staffed sales point, you may, however, have the right to pay cash.

Must the shop give me change for my 1,000-kroner note?

If the shop has change available, it must also offer to give change. The obligation does not apply where there is "a clear disproportion" between the note and the amount, for example a 1,000-kroner note for a piece of chewing gum. The Consumer Authority emphasizes that the obligation to give change must be real.

Notes and coins from Norges Bank are legal tender under the Central Bank Act (sentralbankloven) § 3-5 first paragraph. The same provision states that no one is obliged to accept more than 25 coins of each type in one payment. If you want to pay 500 kroner with 10-kroner coins, the shop can therefore say no.

The shop refused — how to complain

The Consumer Authority enforces the cash right, and it is free to submit a tip. Here is how to proceed:

1. Politely ask to pay cash and refer to finansavtaleloven § 2-1 third paragraph.
2. Note the date, time, name of the shop and what was said. Keep the receipt.
3. Submit a tip via My Page at the Consumer Authority, which requires electronic ID through ID-portal. If you do not have BankID, call 23 40 06 00 (Monday–Friday 10–14) or email postmottak@forbrukertilsynet.no.
4. The Consumer Authority can make decisions on prohibitions, requirements, injunctions and in certain cases breach penalties.

The dates are not the same. The right itself applies from 1 October 2024, the authority for breach penalties (finansavtaleloven § 7-2 second paragraph) from 1 January 2025, and the penalty regulation was extended to cover cash refusal from 1 May 2025. A penalty requires the breach to be "significant or to have occurred repeatedly". The regulatory maximum range is up to 4 per cent of annual turnover or up to 25 million kroner, with the highest amount used — a cap in the regulation, not a normal penalty level. As of 29 July 2026, the Consumer Authority has not published any decision on cash refusal. The authority does not resolve your individual case, but builds a case against repeated breaches.

Where can you get cash in 2026?

You can get cash from a bank, from an ATM and from a shop. Cash accounted for 3 per cent of payments at sales locations in March 2026, compared to 8–9 per cent in 2019 (Norges Bank, published 10 June 2026).

• Bank branch: only 65 branches had cash services over the counter at the end of 2025. Banks are obliged to accept and pay out cash under the Financial Enterprises Act (finansforetaksloven) § 16-4.
• ATM: 1,028 ATMs at the end of 2025. From 1 January 2026, withdrawals were free at just under half of the banks, and the highest fee per withdrawal was 100 kroner.
• Cash services in shop: 1,474 shops. You need a BankAxept card and PIN code, and shops in the scheme must have cash available.
• Cash-back at the till: voluntary for the shop, average 925 kroner per withdrawal in 2025.

2025 was the first year with more cash withdrawals in shops (11.2 million) than from ATMs (10.3 million). Paying bills with cash over the counter cost an average of 144.10 kroner in 2026 — cheaper is to pay bills with eInvoice and Standing Order.

Keep some cash at home for power and internet cuts

Norges Bank recommends that you keep some cash at home: it works even if all electronic payment methods fail. The bank does not specify a sum, but recommends smaller denominations, since the seller does not have much change when many people pay cash at the same time. Also keep a physical BankAxept card, use it regularly with chip and PIN code, and have an account at more than one bank. The rest of the list you can find in emergency supplies at home.

You are not locked out without BankID

The cash right is a safety net while you sort out the digital. It is no reason to delay opening a bank account and electronic ID. At the turn of the year 2021/2022, 4 per cent said they do not have BankID, 9 per cent said they do not have Vipps and 5 per cent said they do not have their own smartphone (Consumer Council and YouGov).

If you need help from your family with online banking, you can give digital power of attorney without sharing your BankID. If you are newly arrived, SamfunnPrep's first-week tool shows which steps come first.

Many of these rules are curriculum for the civic test. Try SamfunnPrep for free and practise on consumer rights and emergency preparedness.