Harry Sintonen1d ago

Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Estonia are soon enabling offline debit card payments for at least seven days without network connectivity. The change covers payments for essential goods in physical trade, such as food, medicine, and fuel. Each country has made - or is in the process of making - the required changes to their related regulations to enable it.

The motivation for this change is to enable payments even in exceptional situations such as network disruptions due to sabotage or conflict. TL;DR: You can pay for essentials even if Russia cuts the cables.

Plans for this change were announced in May 2025: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/nordics-estonia-plan-offline-card-payment-back-up-if-internet-cut-2025-05-07/

#resilience #preparedness #infrastructure #payments #banking

Show threadLeeloo

@harrysintonen
It works for debit cards? How?

The one reason that I have accepted having a debit card is the absolute guarantee that it cannot be used to spend money I don't have. Otherwise, that's a credit card, and I will not accept a credit card contract.

Without access to my bank, how does this guarantee work?

Apr 13 at 4:29pmWeb
Show threadHarry Sintonen1d ago
@leeloo See https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/payment-preparedness/offline-payments/ for rough explanation.
Offline payments

The Riksbank and representatives from the payment market have reached an agreement to increase the possibility to make offline card payments for essential goods

Show threadLeeloo1d ago
@harrysintonen
Nothing about my question.
Show threadHarry Sintonen1d ago
@leeloo If "spending money you don't have" is a concern there's a rather easy mitigation: pay with cash only when the network is down.
Show threadLeeloo1d ago

@harrysintonen
No, I expect my bank to uphold their end of the contract.

The modern way of customers having to jump through hoops because the people with too much money are above the law is not acceptable.

Show threadLeif Samuelsson1d ago

@harrysintonen @[email protected]

Or pay with cash when you want #privacy.

Show threadVictor Westerhuis1d ago
@leeloo Probably the same way ATMs (at least in Europe) have worked for years now. If the connection to your bank is down, you can still take out money at an ATM. When the connection is back up, the money is deducted, whether there is enough in your account or not. You pay no interest, the charge is dated to the correct day.
Show threadLeeloo1d ago
@viccie30
So a credit card and thus a contract violation.
Show threadNirro1d ago

@leeloo incidentally, that's not a guarantee at all in any debit card I have used. In Spain at least some debit cards let you spend up to a certain point in the red, and if you sanitize the debt in less than, I think, 24 hours, you aren't even charged interests for the negative balance.

So I'd guess it's probably something like that. You are able to pay offline, when the bank hears about the payment it gets deducted and if you overspent you pay **heavy** interests while your account is red.

Show threadLeeloo1d ago

@nirro
That is not a thing I have ever consented to, and allowing that would make my bank guilty of fraud.

Also, if it were the case, what would be the point of making me wait for the check whether there is money in my account before allowing me to fuel my car?

Show threadNirro1d ago

@leeloo well, in Europe some banks do it like that. It's clearly detailed on their terms and conditions as well so it is not fraud, it's the contract they offer.

I didn't get the second part of your message. What I said is in the event of a loss of connection payments default to being accepted so you... get your gasoline immediately regarless of your balance. Payments are processed later. I'd assume that if your bank THEN detects that you had a negative balance, it'd proceed to charge interest.