käteisenä

Käteisenä is a Finnish adverbial form of käteinen, commonly translated as "in cash" or "as cash". It is used to indicate that a transaction or transfer takes place using physical currency rather than by card, bank transfer, or other electronic means. Typical usage appears in expressions like "maksoin sen käteisenä" ("I paid it in cash") or "otetaan vastaan käteisenä" ("accepted as cash").

Grammatically, käteisenä derives from the essive case, which denotes a temporary state or role — in this case, that something is being treated or exchanged in the form of cash. It is frequently encountered in everyday speech, receipts, sales agreements and informal transactions.

In a broader economic and social context, käteisenä reflects practices associated with physical money: immediate finality of payment, relative anonymity, and the need for physical handling and storage. Advantages often cited include simplicity and no dependence on electronic systems; disadvantages include security risks, difficulty in large transfers, and potential facilitation of undeclared transactions. In Finland and other Nordic countries, use of käteisenä has declined in recent years due to the rise of card payments, mobile wallets and online banking, prompting ongoing discussion about cash accessibility, payment infrastructure and the role of physical currency in a largely digital economy.