Offline connectivity for payments: shedding light on a critical functionality
It is often said that Nordic countries are ahead of the pack when it comes to implementing digital innovation. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) must have thought so when establishing the BIS Innovation hub Nordic centre which recently published a landmark ‘Handbook for offline payments with CBDC’.
Indeed, offline connectivity brings resilience, enhanced privacy and cash resemblance to digital payments and is therefore viewed as vital for many central banks considering CBDCs, including the ECB for the digital euro.
Michael Adams from Quali-Sign and I have released a paper on the topic highlighting the importance of offline interactions for CBDC payments but also extremely relevant for other digital payments. The paper discusses the three main forms of offline transactions presented in the BIS handbook as well as what offline connectivity implies for tamper-resistant hardware in smartphones and the implementation of strong customer/user authentication processes.
The paper can be read via the following link