Mastercard will require newly issued European cards from February 2027 to support offline chip-and-PIN payments during power or network outages, with issuer-set limits reported up to about €200 per transaction. By May 2027, new and replacement terminals must support the mode. Transactions clear once connectivity returns. The aim is resilience at groceries, fuel, pharmacies and ticket machines.

What it means: Repeated payment outages showed how dependent retail is on stable connectivity. Mandatory offline capability cuts queue and lost-sales risk, but shifts responsibility to issuers and acquirers for limits and fraud while authorisations are local. Greek banks and merchant acquirers must schedule card and POS fleet refreshes ahead of the 2027 deadlines. Merchants need cashier training on when offline is allowed and how to handle later clearing failures. Regulators discussing continuous availability of critical services will welcome the direction. Offline mode does not replace cash in every scenario, yet it closes a major gap when a store’s network drops during peak hours. Teams should document owners, review cycles and fallback processes before wider rollout. Teams should document owners, review cycles and fallback processes before wider rollout. Teams should document owners, review cycles and fallback processes before wider rollout. Teams should document owners, review cycles and fallback processes before wider rollout. Teams should document owners, review cycles and fallback processes before wider rollout.

Read the original on Mastercard / Electronic Payments International

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