Denmark had zero bank robberies for the first time ever in 2022

In 2000, there were 221 bank robberies — almost one for every banking day, according to Finans Danmark, the country’s interest organization for banks.

Since 2017, there have been fewer than 10 bank robberies per year, and in 2021 there was only one.

Finans Danmark attributed the decline in robberies to banks’ coordinated efforts to shore up security, as well as Denmark’s increasingly cashless society.

In March last year, the country’s central bank reported that the use of cash had fallen to 12% in 2021, and that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the move away from cash.

Thanks to increased monitoring, there were also zero ATM thefts in person in 2022, Finans Danmark said. In 2016, there were 18 ATM robberies. Many of those attacks included blowing up machines, placing passersby and residents at risk of being injured.

“It’s nothing short of amazing. Because every time it happens, it’s an extreme strain on the employees involved,” said Steen Lund Olsen, the vice president of the finance workers’ union, Finansforbundet.

“It’s something you can’t even begin to understand the emotional impact of if you haven’t experienced it yourself,” he said.

Physical robberies have been replaced to a large extent by online banking fraud over the past five to eight years, Finans Danmark said. These are less risky for criminals and still yield large dividends.

According to the U.S. firm Advisen, which advises on data and security, banks have suffered losses of roughly 12 billion dollars due to cybercrime since 2000.

In the U.S., the number of physical bank robberies is at its lowest in half a century.

Experts say that this is partly because cyber heists are much more lucrative, and the penalties are not as severe.

According to a 2016 government report on credit card fraud offenses, convicted credit card offenders took in over $60,000 on average and were given a prison sentence of a little over two years.