Offline card payments should be possible no later than 1 July 2026

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Existing Offline Card Technology

  • Many commenters note that EMV chip cards have supported offline transactions for decades; mass transit, airlines, and some shops already use this.
  • Offline logic typically lives on the card: counters and limits decide when it must go online, when PIN is required, and maximum offline amounts.
  • Terminals can store encrypted transaction blobs and “upload” them once back online; some POS vendors and Square already support this.

Fraud, Liability, and Merchant Risk

  • Key issue is not technical feasibility but who eats losses: issuer, acquirer, or merchant.
  • Merchants can usually opt in/out of offline acceptance; if a later authorization fails, they may be stuck with the loss.
  • Offline limits are kept low, and certain cards (e.g., some debit or “online-only” products) are configured to disallow offline use.

Crypto, Digital Cash, and Stored-Value

  • Several compare this to cryptocurrencies or offline-signing, but others point out double‑spend risks and the need for legal/insurance backstops.
  • Past “stored value” schemes (Mondex, Proton, transport cards like Suica/Octopus) demonstrate technically strong offline payments but often failed commercially or remained niche.
  • Some see a parallel with CBDC / digital euro design: offline mode constrains the state’s ability to “turn off” funds.

Sweden’s Cashless Context and Control Concerns

  • Sweden is described as “almost entirely digital”: cash use is rare, many places refuse it, and Swish/BankID dominate even for small sums and kids.
  • Disagreement over whether cash is culturally viewed as “dirty/criminal” or just inconvenient; civil asset‑forfeiture laws around unexplained wealth intensify debate.
  • Several worry a government‑approved set of “essential” offline purchases increases behavioral control and data collection; others argue it’s pragmatic to guarantee food/medicine/fuel access.

Resilience, War, and Preparedness

  • Many see the move as driven by cyberattack/war risk (Kaseya/Coop outage cited, plus Russian activity), and part of broader civil‑defense hardening.
  • Some lament that instead of relying on cash, society is doubling down on complex, bank‑mediated infrastructure, albeit with offline fallbacks.