Visa Resolves Technical Issue That Blocked Europe Card Payments
Visa Is Facing a Service Disruption Affecting Payments in Europe
(Bloomberg) -- Visa Inc. said it had resolved a technical issue that prevented some European customers from using their cards for payments.
The problem was the result of a hardware failure with one of its European systems and is not associated with an unauthorized access or cyberattack, the company said in a Twitter statement on Saturday. The system is now operating at full capacity and customers can use their cards for payments or for withdrawals.
"Our goal is to ensure all Visa payments work reliably 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly said in the statement. “We fell short of this goal today and we apologize to all of our partners and Visa account holders for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Visa’s system breakdown affected customers across Europe. The company on Friday said it was “experiencing a service disruption.” Some European banks and businesses, including HSBC Holdings Plc and Bank of Ireland, acknowledged customer issues with payments through Visa on social media.
Visa handles more than $10 trillion in payments every year. The company completed its $20 billion purchase of Visa Europe in 2016 after the two firms spent eight years as separate entities.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jenny Surane in New York at jsurane4@bloomberg.net;Isis Almeida in London at ialmeida3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, James Cone
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.