In April, a power blackout in Spain and Portugal caused severe but ultimately short-lived problems with payments systems.
The cash that’s set aside should be enough to cover “the minimum necessary expenses for a period of three days, such as for water, food, medicine, and transportation.”
The Dutch central bank also had some advice for merchants: They should have alternative payment systems in place, like scannable QR codes, in case point-of-sale terminals don’t work.
In March, the European Commission published a preparedness plan that recommended citizens stock three days’ worth of food to ensure supplies in case of emergencies like war or natural disasters.
