The Riksbank considers it necessary to increase the possibility of making payments even in the event of major disruptions in data communication. This applies in particular to payments by the public for essential goods. Therefore, card payments should be possible even without functioning data communication, i.e. offline. Several of our Nordic-Baltic neighbours have already implemented or are in the process of implementing such a system, either through legislation as in Estonia and Latvia, or through a voluntary agreement between market participants as in Denmark. Read more in the box How our neighbours have strengthened payments system resilience with offline payments in the chapter Are payments in Sweden safe?. According to the Riksbank, it is essential that the work is conducted in close collaboration between the private and public actors concerned, but that it is ultimately the private actors who must decide how this is to be done in practice.

This requires both a common understanding of how offline payments currently work in different situations and an analysis of changes that may need to be made to existing regulations, agreements and processes. The Riksbank has therefore convened a broader circle of market participants than just the companies covered by the regulations, for example card networks, card acquirers and retailers, to achieve a common view and identify measures. The technical conditions for offline payments are already considered to be relatively favourable, but issues to be resolved include administrative processes, how abuse of offline payments can be curbed and who should bear the liquidity and credit risk arising from an offline payment.

The Riksbank's objective is that, by 1 July 2026, it shall be possible to make card payments offline for the purchase of essential goods in the event of disruptions lasting up to 7 days. The possibility shall apply to all those over the age of 18 who have a card with one of the banks covered by the Riksbank's regulations.