Northern Europe is bracing for possible blackouts due to attacks on critical infrastructure. Several central banks are implementing a backup payment system that will allow payments to be made even without internet access.
Northern Europe is bracing for possible blackouts due to attacks on critical infrastructure. Several central banks are implementing a backup payment system that will allow payments to be made even without internet access.
Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Estonia have launched a project to introduce offline card payments that will work in the event of internet loss, including due to sabotage or technical failures, Reuters reported, citing Bank of Finland board member Tuomas Välimäki.
According to him, the risks of serious disruptions in payment services have increased due to the worsening geopolitical situation and hybrid threats.
«Europe is at war, and there are constant cyberattacks around it, in particular on communications. And payment systems are one of the first and most painful targets for such influences,» the banker emphasized.
In Finland, 90% of payments are made by cards, which depend on the uninterrupted operation of international data channels. Therefore, the new system will allow terminals to temporarily store encrypted transaction data offline until communication is restored. Välimäki said that similar systems are also being developed in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Estonia, and testing is already underway in some of them.
The Swedish central bank plans to implement a full offline system by July 1, 2026. It should provide the ability to purchase basic goods in the event of a loss of connection for up to 7 days. In Norway and Denmark, electronic solutions with limited offline capabilities are already in operation and are currently being refined.
Countries in the region are also concerned about the monopoly of the American giants Visa and Mastercard, whose infrastructure is tied to almost all card payments.
«Even if it seems like we have many options — credit card, debit card, Apple Pay — it all goes through the same switch,» Välimäki noted.
Finland is also implementing a national instant payment system, which is expected to be operational in the next few years, as well as a system of reserve accounts, which will allow citizens to access their own funds even in the event of bankruptcy or technical failure of their bank.
Välimäki also called on European countries to reduce their dependence on US payment solutions and for finance ministers to engage in security discussions. He said that financial infrastructure is already part of the critical defense network of the EU and NATO countries.
As a reminder, we wrote that Western intelligence believes that the ruptures of submarine cables in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland occurred due to maritime accidents, not Russian sabotage.
