Swedish central bank announced that from July 1, 2026, offline card payments will be possible for purchases of essential goods. The change expands the ability of most Visa and Mastercard cards issued to adults by participating banks to work even when data communication is unavailable, such as during severe disruptions or cyber‑attacks. The measure, the result of a deal reached in October 2025 between card issuers, networks, merchants and Riksbanken, allows use of a physical card and PIN for groceries, medicine and fuel at staffed stations. Participating banks include Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Ica Banken, Länsförsäkringar Bank, Nordea, SEB and Swedbank, with networks Visa and Mastercard and pay‑service providers Adyen, Nets, Swedbank Pay and Worldline. Riksbanken urges households to keep cards and PINs handy and welcomes further banks to join.
Source: Sveriges Riksbank.
Data reproduced from https://www.riksbank.se/ (open data).
Open data, freely available.
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