A recent Nets breakdown on Saturday prompted Salling Group’s grocery stores, including Netto, Føtex, and Bilka, to activate offline payment options on their Dankort terminals. This allowed customers to continue making purchases despite the disruption.

According to Nets, offline payment is a feature that enables the use of physical payment cards even without an internet connection, requiring a PIN code for transactions. Salling Group reported that their stores were generally not significantly impacted, based on experiences from previous Nets outages. However, the full extent of the breakdown’s effects on the group’s stores is still being assessed.

While all Dankort cards can be used for offline payments, Visa and Mastercard availability depends on the individual bank. Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay are not compatible with offline payment systems.

The Nets breakdown, which affected Denmark and the broader Nordic region, led to long queues at the Great Belt Bridge and payment difficulties for Danish tourists abroad. Nets press officer Søren Winge advised stores to switch to “offline mode” to facilitate uninterrupted customer payments. The cause of the breakdown remains unknown as of Sunday.