HARDWARE PROBLEM BLAMED FOR DISRUPTIONS IN VISA TRANSACTIONS

LONDON— Payment systems giant Visa recovered on Saturday from a hardware issue that had left it struggling to process transactions at bars, shops and cash machines across Europe.

The blockage left some customers stuck at the tills in stores across the continent late Friday, whilst others were forced to queue at automated teller machines (ATMs).

“Visa has resolved a technical issue which occurred yesterday in Europe and prevented some consumers from using Visa for payments,” the firm said in a statement at 4:32 a.m., more than 12 hours after it first reported issues.

“Visa Europe’s payment system is now operating at full capacity, and Visa account holders can now use Visa for any of their purchases and at ATMs, as they normally would.”

No cyberattacks

The firm said the issue was a result of a hardware failure and “is not associated with any unauthorized access or cyberattack,” whilst chief executive Al Kelly apologized to customers and businesses “for any inconvenience.”

A Visa spokesperson told AFP on Friday evening—as the problems unfolded—that it was not possible to say how many users across Europe had been affected.