This is how much money you should keep in your pocket in case of a cyberattack

What if the payment system is down and payment terminals aren’t working? How much cash should you have in your pocket when this scenario occurs? De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), commercial banks, consumer organizations, retail associations, the Dutch Ministry of Finance, and other institutions united in the National Forum on the Payment System (NFPS) have the answer.

In the Netherlands, a debate about what an emergency supply kit should look like and how much cash consumers and retailers should have laying around has been going on for quite some time.

Therefore, last year, the government asked numerous civil society organizations to come up with an answer to these important questions.

Although the Dutch payment system is reliable, it’s always a good idea to be prepared for emergencies. Geopolitical tensions and cyber threats could challenge that robustness.

On Tuesday, the National Forum on the Payment System (NFPS), a consortium of financial institutions, published a report on this matter. The premise was a scenario in which people couldn’t withdraw money from an ATM or transfer it via online payment requests. In addition, the entire electronic payment system was down for several days.

The NFPS formulated several tips to keep in mind.

For starters, consumers and retailers should keep enough cash on hand for at least three days to avoid being unable to purchase daily essentials during an emergency. For every adult in a household, they should account for an amount of €70 ($79) in cash. For every child, they should reserve a minimum of €30 ($34).

“Make sure the cash amount consists of a mix of banknotes and coins. This way, you will have enough change with you and also help the shopkeeper to have enough change in its cash register. If you have banknotes, opt for lower-value banknotes. And as for coins, try to keep around 50 coins of various values at home,” the NFPS recommends.

Don’t run off to your bank to build up a stash of cash immediately. You can build up your own inventory gradually over time.

In addition, in case telecom providers are up and running, consumers should have working banking apps on their mobile phones so they can transfer money. People should try to have access to more than one type of payment.

Point-of-sale establishments like a supermarket, shop, petrol station, hotel, restaurant, bar, or market stall should offer customers the means to pay via online payment request, like with a QR code, for example. In case telecom operators are down, they should have enough cash to cover at least three days, in various denominations.

Klaas Knot, Director of the DNB, argues that financial institutions must improve their defenses against the risks of cyberattacks. Attacks aimed at shutting down payment transactions and banking systems have increased in the past year. With the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague next month, the number of cyberattacks is rising again.

“Cyberattacks, there’s not much we can do about that. But we can make sure that systems are up and running again as quickly as possible,” Knot says in an interview with Dutch news outlet NOS. Furthermore, he states that the geopolitical and economic tensions and uncertainty are “unprecedented and historical.”