What went wrong?
Visa users experienced widespread problems with card payments on Friday. The problems have now been resolved.
The problems appeared to mainly be with chip and pin transactions. ATM transactions were not as severely affected although there were long queues at ATMs as people sought to withdrawn cash ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
Difficulties with payment do not indicate that you have been robbed or your card was hacked.
How long did the problem last?
The problems appear to have begun shortly after 2.30pm on Friday and lasted for around 8 hours. The company said on Saturday the system was now operating at full capacity.
What caused the problem?
Visa said the issue was not associated with any unauthorised access or cyber attack and appeared to be a hardware problem.
Where were people affected?
Across Ireland and Europe - although the problems did not appear to be consistent. Many large retailers in Ireland reported problems, including Tesco, Arnotts, Supervalu and Next said cards had been declined completely or payments only went through after multiple attempts. Some retailers placed "cash only" signs outside their stores.
Where other cards affected?
No, it was just Visa. Mastercard and other credit and debit cards functioned normally.
What effect did the payment failure have?
Many Visa users complained of difficulties as a result of the outage, reporting they had been stranded while travelling, are unable to pay for groceries. There were long queues at ATMs as people tried to get access to cash. There were also reports of Irish people in the US being unable to complete transactions.
I am out of pocket due to the outage - can I claim?
This is not yet clear. British consumer group Which said the issue was a “huge inconvenience to customers” and said Visa and the banks needed to ensure no-one was left out of pocket. “We strongly advise people to keep any evidence of extra expenses they’ve incurred in order to claim them back”. - Additional reporting Guardian