Mastercard has introduced new European requirements for offline payments, allowing transactions to continue during power and network outages.
Mastercard has set out new requirements across its European network to ensure that card payments can continue when power or network connections fail. From February 2027, all newly issued Mastercard cards in Europe will be enabled for offline payments, and by May 2027, all new and replacement payment terminals will be required to support them. Once implemented, cardholders will be able to use chip and PIN during an outage to pay for essentials at supermarkets, grocery stores, service stations, and pharmacies, as well as at travel and ticket machines. The move follows the April 2025 power blackout in Spain and Portugal, during which an estimated 55 million people were unable to make digital payments.
How offline authorisation works
Offline payments rely on spending limits stored securely on the card's chip. If a terminal loses its connection, the transaction can be approved locally, up to a limit of EUR 200 per transaction set in advance by the cardholder's bank. The transaction is then submitted for clearing once the connection is restored. This model leaves risk exposure under the control of issuers, which determine the offline limit, while allowing merchants to keep accepting cards when real-time authorisation is unavailable.
Mastercard has already deployed offline payments in Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia. During a recent storm in Latvia, card payments continued at shops operating with local generators. In Denmark in spring 2026, when a technical outage isolated terminals from the wider payment system, Mastercard's crisis procedures allowed many transactions to continue at critical merchants. Following coordination with partners, national governments, regulators, and central banks, the company is now extending the capability more widely across Europe.
Resilience of European payment infrastructure
The rollout builds on measures Mastercard has taken over the past 12 months to strengthen the resilience of Europe's payment networks, including investment in local infrastructure and cybersecurity. The requirements are phased, with card issuance changing first and terminal support following three months later. Because the terminal requirement applies to new and replacement devices, coverage at the point of sale is set to expand as merchants renew their terminal estates.
Brice van de Walle, Executive Vice President, Core Payments at Mastercard, stated that people still need to buy food, fuel, and medicine when power or networks go down. According to van de Walle, experience has shown that offline payments can make a real difference, and expanding the technology across Europe is intended to help people continue paying for essential goods during unexpected disruptions. The approach places continuity of everyday payments within the broader discussion on operational resilience that has followed the 2025 Iberian blackout.
