MONEY: Banking/Cash Economies

Hello World Forum!
Sara Graham here. In the process of researching for my guidebook on relocation and curious about the nuances/frustrations of everyday banking in a foreign country. For example, in the Czech Republic, one can simply walk into a bank with his or her passport and set up an account. However, in Sweden, one requires a personnummer (personal ID #) to set things up... you can't even get home internet without it! It took 8 weeks to get the ID cards (despite my partner and I both being EU citizens).
I have also discovered and read a bit about Germany's cash economy. One friend, who relocated from Toronto to Berlin, went to IKEA and - after amassing an apartment load of furniture - was not allowed to use his credit card to purchase everything.
If you have a story along this theme, I would be so interested to hear it!