10 Merchants Have Introduced Offline Card Payments

10.09.2026.

Information for the media

Latvijas Bank, in cooperation with critical service providers and merchants, has introduced offline card payments – a solution to enable the purchase of essential goods – food, fuel, and medicines – when card payments are not possible in the usual way due to internet or mobile communication disruptions.

Not everyone carries cash, as it is common to pay with a card daily. Offline card payments stipulate that in conditions where the internet is unavailable, individuals who are clients of critical financial service providers can purchase goods from certain food, fuel, and medicine merchants for a total amount of up to 200 euros with each card. Residents must remember that this solution can only be used by physically inserting the card into a payment card terminal and entering the card's PIN code. Currently, the offline solution cannot be used for payments made with a smart device. At the same time, it should be noted that the solution does not work if the respective merchant does not have access to electricity.

Currently, the solution operates at the points of sale of 10 merchants:

three retail chains of food and essential goods merchants – Rimi, Maxima, and Lidl;

four fuel merchants' filling stations – VIADA, ASTARTE NAFTA, Virši, and Neste (which provides offline payments with Neste customer payment cards);

three pharmacy chains – Euroaptieka, Mēness aptieka, and BENU.

Offline payments work with cards issued by 4 banks – "Swedbank" AS, AS "SEB banka", AS "Citadele banka", and Luminor Bank AS Latvian branch.

This solution, together with the possibility for residents to withdraw cash, including by using the critical ATM network, which will be replenished with cash first, ensures that residents can purchase necessary goods in a crisis situation.

The offline payment solution introduced in Latvia works in cases of communication disruptions. Already, since the solution was introduced, in the event of internet or mobile communication disruptions, offline card payments using a physical card have ensured the continuity of operations at points of sale.

According to the National Security Law, critical financial services, the availability of which must be ensured in the event of a possible threat to the state, are cash and non-cash payments made by credit institutions, thereby ensuring the availability of financial resources to the residents of Latvia. Taking into account the National Security Law and Latvijas Bank's regulations, critical financial services in Latvia are provided by "Swedbank" AS, AS "SEB banka", AS "Citadele banka", and Luminor Bank AS Latvian branch.

To know how to act in a crisis situation, Latvijas Bank invites every resident to familiarize themselves with the informational material "What to know about money and financial services in a crisis situation".