A widespread IT issue has impacted online and contactless payments
Early on Friday morning, news of a global IT outage affecting some banks, media outlets, airlines and more was reported.
One consequence is that some shops, including Waitrose, Morrisons, Gail’s Bakery and Holland and Barrett, have been unable to take contactless or card payments.
It looks like the underlying issue with Microsoft systems has been fixed but there’s the potential for the impact to carry on through the day and even the weekend.
As the story develops, we will update this article, but for now, here’s how to pay if you can’t use card.
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What payments are affected?
It seems to be mainly with card payments – both contactless and chip and PIN.
It’s widespread but not particularly consistent – some stores are having issues with some payments, while others appear to be fine.
Some of the companies that have reported problems include:
- Waitrose
- Morrisons (now sorted)
- Gail’s Bakery
- Holland and Barrett
- Norwich City FC
- Peacocks
- Wordsworth Grasmere, Cumbria
- Waterstones, Altrincham
Andy headed to his local high street this morning and most shops were taking cards so you might be OK, and all were taking cash.
Elsewhere, some independent shops have reportedly closed as they cannot take payments whereas Gail’s is giving away free coffees this morning.
It looks like many businesses are managing to get card payments back online, however, it’s possible this could take more hours if not days to sort.
Paying with cash
It’s rare for many of us to carry coins and notes with us now, so you’ll probably need to track down a cash machine or alternative for any physical purchases. Though if the shop is cashless, you may be in trouble.
ATM cash withdrawals
LINK, which runs most of the UK’s ATMs, has confirmed cash machines are unaffected by the outage, however it’s monitoring the situation.
So if you’ve got an ATM nearby, you’ll hopefully be able to make withdrawals and pay for your goods with cash. See the LINK cash locator for your nearest machine.
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Post Office desks
If you don’t have a convenient ATM, you could withdraw cash from one of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches.
Almost anyone with a UK bank account can access their money from a Post Office with their card and PIN.
Supermarket cashback
As long as your supermarket is taking cards you’ll be able to get cash from the till as part of your shop. Most will require you to buy something as part of the transaction.
Top tip: keep your receipts
Andy was told in Waitrose that some card payments are working, some are not and sometimes rejected payments are accepted on the third try. If your payments are declined, make sure you keep your receipts to prove this happened in case you’re charged multiple times.
Paying with vouchers/points
We’ve not heard of any issues with vouchers or points being accepted, so you could use these in lieu of cash, if need be.
You could use it as an opportunity to try the apps that offer cashback on gift cards – here’s our guide to how they work.
Shopping online
Similar issues are impacting some online shops, which could mean they can’t process your payments. You could also try gift vouchers here or potentially try services like PayPal or a Buy Now, Pay Later provider – though they too could be having problems.