Norway's Ministry of Finance has received the final work of a working group it commissioned to assess contingency in the digital payment system, recommending 18 measures to improve the ability to make card payments and account-based payments and to carry out clearing and settlement across disruption scenarios. The recommendations combine steps to reinforce existing backup arrangements with the establishment of new solutions, and call for strengthened ongoing work on system-wide preparedness and risk management. For card payments, the group prioritises enhancing the existing BankAxept contingency solution rather than creating backup solutions for all card schemes, including making the contingency for essential-goods payments operable for up to four weeks, compared with one week currently. It also recommends independent contingency arrangements for banks’ customer data and critical services so customer services can be restored quickly if banks’ systems are unavailable for an extended period, including due to cyberattacks. The ministry is considering how the recommendations should be followed up by the authorities and noted that several align with the Payment Preparedness Committee’s proposals in NOU 2024: 21, which was consulted on until 21 February 2025. It also referenced the government’s 7 March Prop. 54 LS (2025–2026), which includes a proposal for a new law on digital operational resilience in the financial sector to implement the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).

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