CHIP AND PAIN
Millions hit as Visa card payment network crashes
MILLIONS of people were hit after card giant Visa’s payments network crashed yesterday.
Bosses at the firm blamed an unexplained “service disruption” for the chaos across the UK and Europe.
Stores were forced to put up signs telling customers they were only accepting cash.
Financial technology company Paymentsense said “all merchants nationwide” were affected and unable to process transactions.
The problem did not appear to be affecting ATM withdrawals. However, there were fears that those not able to make card payments would rush to take out money from cash machines, especially ahead of the weekend.
There were differing reports about whether Visa online transactions were impacted.
Rival payments firm Mastercard said their systems were working normally and the Bank of England were in contact with Visa about the problem.
Visa said: “This incident is preventing some transactions in Europe being processed.
“We are investigating the cause and working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation.”
A spokesman for Marks & Spencer said: “We are unable to accept Visa payments currently. No retailers are able to accept Visa cards.” While Sainsbury’s said: “We are doing our best to help out customers and apologise for any inconvenience.”
NatWest commented: “This is an industry-wide issue which is being investigated as a matter of urgency.”
Jay Curtis, 32, had two cards declined at B&Q. He said: “I had £240 worth of stuff in my trolley. My card just wouldn’t go through.”
Others took to social media to vent their fury.
One person said on Twitter : “Literally dumped my shopping and walked out of Sainsbury’s.”