Visa will compensate for IT crash

VISA has pledged to compensate customers hit by its recent IT system failure after revealing 5.2 million card transactions were affected, including 2.4 million in the UK.

The group said it was working with issuing banks to assess “appropriate compensation” for customers after the 10-hour debacle, which saw 9% of all Visa’s UK transactions fail to go through, affecting millions of customers on a busy Friday afternoon.

In a letter to Treasury Select Committee chair Nicky Morgan, Visa laid bare the extent of the issue, revealing that more than a third of all UK transactions failed to process on the first attempt at the height of the disruption – right throughout rush hour – forcing many people to use cash machines.

Visa Europe chief executive Charlotte Hogg said: “At its peak, the disruption affected people in the midst of returning home from work, socialising in restaurants and pubs and doing end-of-day shopping.

“A disruption to our processing that impacts consumers at any time is unacceptable, let alone during a busy Friday afternoon.”

Her letter to the cross-party group of MPs comes after Mrs Morgan demanded details on the June 1 debacle and the “chaos” it caused.

In her response, Ms Hogg said: “We failed to meet your and our own expectations and we apologise again unreservedly to everyone affected by the incident.

“Visa, together with our financial institution partners, has quickly implemented a compensation programme for cardholders.”