Digital payments depend on the functioning of electricity supply and data communication. When a payment is executed despite the unavailability of at least one actor involved in the payment, it is referred to as being made offline. The most common way for businesses to receive payments in a situation where normal communications are not working is cash, closely followed by Swish payments (see figure 9). However, a prolonged disruption where electricity or digital communications are out would make it difficult to use Swish and also cards, as the infrastructure for both these payment methods depends on functioning electricity and data communications. Read more about offline payments in the chapter Are payments in Sweden safe?.

Around one in five businesses say they can charge when their usual communications are down because they have payment terminals that work with the mobile network. Just over 10 per cent of small businesses say they can accept offline payments by card. A smaller proportion of businesses say they cannot charge at all if their usual communications do not work. 9 per cent say they cannot charge because they cannot register purchases when the POS system is not available and 3 per cent give another reason.

Figure 9. Few small businesses say they can accept offline payments by card Percentage of respondents who stated that they can and cannot receive payments when communications are not working