Yahoo Finance Visa says systems now operating at 'full capacity' after crash cripples payments
Visa was thrown into chaos Friday evening when its payment system crashed across Europe, as thousands of people has their cards declined at supermarkets, major retailers and on public transport.
The card payments network, which can process up to 65,000 payments a second, said "service disruption" in Europe had stopped transactions from being processed.
In a statement early Saturday morning the company said its payment system was now operating at "full capacity" following a hardware failure.
A statement on the Visa Europe website, said: "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."
The issue was not associated with any unauthorised access or cyber attack, the statement added.
The issue had caused chaos for millions just as half term came to an end, with drivers comparing the Severn Crossing heading into Wales as "hell on earth" as people struggled to pay the toll during Friday night rush hour. Over £1 in every £3 spent in the UK is on a Visa card.
Supermarket chains including Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Morrison's were unable to process payments this evening, forcing customers to leave trolleys full of their weekly shopping at the till.
The National Lottery was also forced to respond to complaints after angry customers were unable to access their funds or add money online, while staff in some John Lewis outlets said Visa payments had been going down sporadically and there were long queues reported in Marks and Spencer and Paperchase branches.
Small business owners also said the incident lost them money due to the drop in sales.
Hi Rhys, there is an issue at VISA currently which means some players are unable to add funds on the website. The issue is external to Camelot and is affecting other organisations, so please keep trying. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this issue. ^Dave
— The National Lottery (@TNLUK) June 1, 2018
One frustrated customer went as far as calling the debacle "the apocalypse", joining the thousands of Visa customers who took to Twitter to complain this evening.
These included London cab drivers who could not accept passenger payments, rail passengers unable to travel and embarrassed shoppers whose cards were declined. In Europe, three members of a race across the continent where contestants can only use a single method of payment were left stranded, according to organisers.
The issue also impacted pay day drinks as pubs across the country faced problems. UK pub chain Wetherspoon's warned drinkers that it was experiencing "intermittent" issues with all Visa cards and to use cash instead. Paultons Theme Park, which runs Peppa Pig World, also asked customers to use alternative payment methods.
Transport for London (TfL) and rail operator GWR were also facing problems during the evening rush hour.
A Bank of England spokesman had said they were aware of the problems affecting Visa across Europe and were working with the firm to resolve the situation.
Sorry my mistake - it does appear there are some issues with Visa and Mastercards at present, which will affect it's use for contactless payments on our systems.
Thanks
Kevin— Transport for London (@TfL) June 1, 2018
Sources said the Bank was conducting ongoing discussions with the company and that it was thought to be a technical issue rather than anything more sinister.
The police and national cyber security agencies had this evening not been alerted by Visa and were not investigating.
A National Crime Agency spokesman said that although they were taking an active interest in the unfolding problems and would discuss any relevant issues with partners, they had not been contacted by Visa.
Action Fraud, which would usually be the first port of call if suspicious activity was detected, also said it was not something of which they were aware.
Mastercard, which powers the majority of credit cards in the UK, said it had experienced no problems on its network. High street banks said their ATM machines were unaffected. Consumer experts Which? were advising people to keep evidence of extra expenses they've incurred in order to claim them back later.
The IT failure has come weeks after a botched revamp at TSB led to customers being unable to access their money online.
The problems highlight the increasing reliance on card payments and the shift towards a cashless society. A third of card payments are now contactless and more than 95pc of UK debit cards use the Visa network.
