Spain is experiencing a widespread outage across all mobile networks, just four weeks after a nationwide electricity blackout. This incident underscores the risks of relying exclusively on online payment systems and applications.
Reports indicate that many people across the country are facing signal loss, total blackouts, and internet issues. Some businesses have been completely locked out of their systems, unable to access software or connect their computers. The disruption, affecting all mobile networks, is believed to be linked to a failed system upgrade at Telefónica, the multinational network operator.
In response to geopolitical uncertainties and cyber threats, several European countries are reevaluating their reliance on online payment services. Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Estonia are developing offline card payment systems to prevent service interruptions. Norway and Denmark have already implemented offline payments, while Sweden aims to do so by July 2026, with Finland and Estonia also progressing in this area.
Recently, Sweden’s central bank emphasized the importance of cash, stating that it remains crucial for consumer protection amidst rising security concerns and online threats.
Azimkhon Askarov, co-CEO and partner at Barcelona-based payment company Concryt, noted that the telecom outage in Spain highlights the increasing dependence of digital payments on mobile infrastructure. “When mobile networks go down, the impact on the payment ecosystem is immediate: failed transactions, frustrated customers, overwhelmed support teams, and increased chargebacks. For merchants, this isn’t just a technical issue; it poses a real risk to revenue and customer trust. As mobile payments become dominant in many sectors, infrastructure resilience is essential. This situation underscores the urgent need for better coordination between telecom providers and the financial technology ecosystem to ensure service continuity and mitigate future risks.”