The Central Bank of Estonia organized a crisis exercise in which communications were cut to six shops for one hour to test offline card payments. The exercise, involving the country’s largest retail chains, showed that customers could still make purchases within set limits when normal network connections and card payment systems were unavailable, but only by using a physical bank card and PIN code. The central bank said the solution worked in principle, while also revealing minor improvements needed for it to function smoothly in a crisis. Selver, Coop, Grossi Toidukaubad, Maxima, Rimi and Lidl took part in the test as part of the national crisis exercise ILVES 2026. The main operational issue was that some customers could not pay because they relied only on phones or other contactless devices and had neither a physical card nor cash with them. The exercise also showed that transaction speeds varied across shops, pointing to technical adjustments still needed at payment terminals and self-service checkouts, including clearer prompts to use card-and-PIN rather than displaying a failed payment message. The offline payment arrangement is intended to help residents buy essential goods such as food, medicines and fuel if payments are disrupted by internet outages, information system failures or cyber attacks.
Central Bank of Estonia2026-06-11
Central Bank of Estonia tests offline card payments at six shops and identifies need for technical improvements
The Central Bank of Estonia tested offline card payments by cutting communications to six shops for one hour. Major retailers were able to process limited purchases using physical bank cards and PIN codes, but the exercise exposed technical issues and showed that customers relying only on contactless devices or no cash remain vulnerable during outages.