The day before National Day got Norwegians all over the country major problems with card payments in stores.
The problems lasted for one hour and 40 minutes, and were due to a fault in the terminals operated by the IT group Nets.
The error created headaches for both stores and consumers, who had to use Vipps, other mobile solutions or cash to sell and buy goods. Several media, included The online newspaperdocumented queue chaos both in the shops and at the ATMs.
Odd Einar Falnes Olsen, professor of social security at the University of Stavanger (UiS), believes the situation shows that society becomes more vulnerable with increased digitalisation.
– At the same time as we have digitized more and more services, upgrading and maintenance of the services is more and more left to each individual player. It contributes to a more vulnerable society, says Olsen.
– Cash is king
Having cash at home and in your wallet turns out to still make sense, according to the UiS professor.
– Cash as a means of payment is one hundred percent decentralized. If one person loses their money, only he or she will be affected. If one store is not allowed to open the checkout, only the individual store will struggle. With a digitalized society, everyone is affected, and we have few alternatives, says Olsen.
FRP politician Roy Steffensen believes the situation shows the dangers of a cashless society. In 2017, Steffensen took over in a chronicle a settlement with the Conservative Party’s vision of removing the obligation to receive cash in 2020 and phasing out Norwegian banknotes and krone pieces by 2030.
– I mean the same thing now: Cash is king in times of crisis. I would strongly warn against the vision of a cashless society, which people regularly highlight. This situation helps to strengthen opposition to a cashless society, says Steffensen, who always has banknotes in hand if the card terminals strike.
Bjørn Tallak Bakken researches emergency preparedness, crisis management and social security at Høgskolen i Innlandet. He also says that the situation illustrates a fragility in the infrastructure.
– It is a sign that society has become more vulnerable and that small mistakes can apparently put society emphatically out of play, Bakken says.
He himself has got rid of all Norwegian banknotes and krone pieces, but reminds that it is recommended to have a small stock of cash in case of crisis.
– To be completely free of cash is not wise. At the same time, it is a bit unclear what the cash should be used for in a situation where, for example, all digital systems are down indefinitely.
In a survey commissioned by Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning from last year, it is stated that 37 percent of Norwegians have cash in their home in the event of a crisis situation. should occur.
Doubts that the situation is building on trust
Norway has in several surveys been named the world’s most cashless society. Cash as a share of means of payment in Norway was on 1.6 percent in 2020. The experts doubt that Norway will jump off the train towards a cashless society despite individual incidents such as the one we saw on 16 May.
– I do not think that the transition to the cashless society is slowed down by such an incident. Then the authorities must have lost the trust of very many, and we would see protests and demonstrations. Digitization has gone so far, and so many investments have been made in new infrastructure, that it takes an incredible amount before it is reversed, says UiS professor Olsen and adds:
– In that case, there must be a total breakdown in the system or something similar.
HINN associate professor Bakken believes the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of a fully digitalized society.
– It is not so often that such things happen. Had it happened once a month or more often, I think people would have gone back to storing and using cash to a greater extent. But I think most people are happy that they do not have to carry around krone pieces and banknotes today, Bakken says.
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