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Nordic Countries and Estonia Develop Offline Card Payment Systems Amid Sabotage Fears

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Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Estonia are jointly developing offline card payment systems to ensure financial continuity in the event of internet disruptions, including potential sabotage of undersea infrastructure, Bank of Finland board member Tuomas Valimaki told Reuters on Wednesday.

The move follows increasing geopolitical tensions, notably Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a series of unexplained incidents damaging critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region. Western intelligence agencies have blamed Russia for acts of sabotage, which Moscow denies.

“The likelihood of major disruptions has increased,” said Valimaki. “Payments are a potential target because of their critical role in everyday life.”

With 90% of Finns relying on card payments, the region is especially vulnerable to disruptions in international data links—many of which are reliant on U.S. infrastructure like Visa and Mastercard.

What Offline Payments Could Look Like:

Offline payments would allow card terminals to store encrypted transaction data, which could then be processed once connections are restored.

  • Sweden aims to launch its system by July 1, 2026, allowing purchases of essential goods during disruptions lasting up to seven days.

  • Norway and Denmark have already deployed initial offline systems.

  • Estonia is also developing a solution, though its central bank has not provided public details.

The Nordic region’s urgency has been heightened by events such as the Nordea DDoS attacks in 2023, which left customers without access to online banking for weeks.

Valimaki also warned of the dominance of U.S. payment networks, suggesting that even services like Apple Pay and Google Pay rely on the Visa-Mastercard infrastructure, and are therefore subject to geopolitical pressure.

“We cannot rule out that one night someone on Truth Social comes up with using payments as a pressure tactic,” he said, referencing the platform where U.S. President Donald Trump frequently shares his policy views.

To enhance payment sovereignty, Finland is planning to:

  • Launch a national instant payment system within a few years.

  • Enable offline card payments for consumers as early as 2025.

  • Introduce national reserve bank accounts, ensuring Finns can access their funds even if commercial banks go offline.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank’s proposed digital euro may one day offer pan-European instant payments, but Valimaki cautioned that full implementation is still years away, even with political support.

At a separate event in Helsinki, NATO’s Christian-Marc Lilflander called for finance ministers to play a larger role in national security discussions, especially around financial infrastructure resilience.

ECB Eyes Trump’s Crypto Plan to Accelerate Digital Euro Development

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The European Central Bank (ECB) hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump’s support for cryptocurrencies pegged to the U.S. dollar will speed up legislative progress for the digital euro, according to ECB board member Piero Cipollone. The ECB sees its digital euro as an alternative electronic payment method that could lessen Europe’s dependence on U.S. companies like Visa and PayPal.

Cipollone noted that Trump’s backing of globally available stablecoins tied to the U.S. dollar would further expand U.S.-dominated payment systems, adding urgency to the digital euro initiative. The European Commission proposed digital euro legislation in June 2023, but progress has been slow amid skepticism from some lawmakers and financial institutions.

“The political world is becoming more alert to this,” Cipollone said in a recent interview. “And it’s possible that we will see an acceleration in the process.” He expressed hope that the European Parliament and Council would finalize their work on the legislation by summer, allowing for negotiations with the Commission. If all goes as planned, the rules could be finalized by November, when the ECB is set to decide whether to launch the digital euro.

EU lawmaker Markus Ferber mentioned that the Parliament might only have a report ready by summer, signaling slower progress than expected.

Cipollone raised concerns about the growing use of U.S. stablecoins, as they could encourage Europeans to transfer their deposits to the U.S. in favor of using dollar-backed stablecoins for payments. This shift, he argued, would further strain European banks as they lose deposits to U.S. platforms.

Bankers are also wary of the digital euro, fearing that it could lead customers to move their funds into ECB-backed digital wallets. To alleviate such concerns, the ECB has proposed capping the holdings in digital euro wallets at a few thousand euros and not offering interest on these deposits.

Globally, other countries, including Nigeria, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, have already launched central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), with 44 other nations, including Russia, China, and Brazil, running pilots. In contrast, Trump has prohibited the U.S. Federal Reserve from issuing its own CBDC.