(8 May 2025 – Europe) Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Estonia are working together to develop offline card payment systems as a safeguard against potential disruptions to online services, Reuters reports.
The initiative comes in response to growing concerns over the vulnerability of critical infrastructure, particularly undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region, which Western intelligence agencies believe have been targeted by Russia in recent years.
Bank of Finland board member Tuomas VĂ€limĂ€ki told Reuters that âthe chance of major disruptions has increased because of the geopolitical situationâ.
Norway and Denmark have already introduced offline payment functionality, while Sweden plans to implement its system by July 2026. Finland and Estonia are actively working on their own versions, according to Reuters.
The move is particularly significant for these Nordic nations, which rank among the lowest users of physical cash globally. Central bank data shows that only 10 percent of Finns rely on cash as their primary form of payment.
VĂ€limĂ€ki stressed that the threat to payments resilience isnât limited to Russia, also pointing to Europeâs dependence on US payment giants Visa and Mastercard.
âWe cannot rule out that one night someone on Truth Social comes up with using payments as a pressure tactic,â he said, referencing Donald Trumpâs preferred social media platform.