News

Tweet-storm directed at Visa points out perils of push to cashlessness

June 4, 2018

Visa made a compelling (and ironic) case for cash over the weekend, when the network when down over a large swath of Europe and the U.K. on Friday just before the lunch hour.

The VisaNewsEurope Twitter account reported that:

We are currently experiencing a service disruption which is preventing some Visa transactions in Europe from being processed. We are investigating the cause and working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation. We will keep you updated.

— VisaNewsEurope (@VisaNewsEurope) June 1, 2018

In a second tweet just after 4 p.m., Visa said that its systems were back in operation — mostly:

We have resolved a technical issue that impacted some consumers across Europe. Visa account holders can now use Visa for any of their purchases and at ATMs. We apologise to all our partners & especially to Visa cardholders who were affected. https://t.co/nVkCUInsyr

— VisaNewsEurope (@VisaNewsEurope) June 2, 2018

Still, many cardholders headed home from work tweeted that their cards had been declined at a supermarket, pub or other after hours destination. European travelers visiting the U.S. on holiday tweeted that their Visa cards were declined, as well.

One twitter user reported long lines at ATMs as Visa cardholders turned to cash:

Big queues forming at Oxford Street cashpoints #visa #mastercard pic.twitter.com/HwroUcJfP7

— Andy Lloyd-Williams (@A_LloydWilliams) June 1, 2018

It was almost 12 hours before Visa was able to announce that the problem had been fully resolved.

... And then the complaints began to pour in on Twitter from cardholders whose accounts were charged for purchases that had supposedly been declined during the outage — with some charges repeated multiple times, due to multiple attempts to complete a transaction.

For some tweeting cardholders this meant additional declines on Saturday due to over-limit spending on their card, to which Visa responded:

We’re aware some cardholders may have pending transactions that could be limiting their spending ability. We are working with your banks to resolve this. You should not be charged for transactions that did not complete. https://t.co/nVkCUInsyr

— VisaNewsEurope (@VisaNewsEurope) June 2, 2018

Twitter member Carol Hedges summed up the lesson learned in this tweet:

Factor in the closure of bank branches, the pushing of people towards a 'cashless society' and the predominance of 'internet banking' and it makes you realise how dependent we have become on technology. Which can fail.
Oh ~ I have a penny jar, if anybody needs a sub. #Visa

— carol hedges (@carolJhedges) June 1, 2018