Kind of old but this is first I'm hearing about it.
Exclusive: Nordics and Estonia rolling out offline card payment back-up in case internet cut
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/nordics-estonia-plan-offline-card-payment-back-up-if-internet-cut-2025-05-07/
QuoteFinland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Estonia are rolling out offline card payment systems to provide a back-up if internet connections are lost, including due to sabotage
(or conflict.)
I'm leaking an image of a prototype...
https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/ltwa8f/the_manual_credit_card_machine/
> prototype
Genius. It looks fraud-proof
Tough to use over the internet :) I am sure an IOU would be fine, worked in Ireland for a while.
>prototype
I worked at Waldenbooks once and that is what we used.
My mom got hacked because the gas station threw the carbon sheet in the trash and someone went through the trash, found her number and made some major order over the phone. Fortunately the amount triggered an alert and investigation showed the purchase was from a phone booth next to an isolated rural gas station.
This scam is now impossible because there are no more phone booths.