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Visa Card Payment Systems Go Down Across Europe (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by msmash on from the outage-report dept.

Catalin Cimpanu, reporting for BleepingComputer: The Visa card payment system is currently down across Europe. Users across the continent have reported problems during the day when attempting to make payments using their Visa cards. A Visa spokesperson confirmed the outage but did not reveal any other details, such as its cause or its scale. Bank social media accounts also confirmed the outage and informed customers of the issue. Users across the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, and Hungary have confirmed problems with payments, but the problems are believed to affect all European countries.

108 comments

  1. Coin bitten? by Camarillo+Brillo · · Score: 5, Informative

    Perhaps their server crashed mining bitcoins....

    1. Re:Coin bitten? by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 1

      Perhaps their server crashed mining bitcoins....

      You have no idea how much I wish I had mod points to mod that comment up. Maybe someone else will.

    2. Re:Coin bitten? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's fine, let it mine, straight to the moon.

      BTW, cryptocurrency has been working without crashing, it's bearer instruments and mechanisms exposed bare ass naked to relentless attack, for almost ten years now. ZERO OPERATIONAL FAILURES.

    3. Re:Coin bitten? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean like double transaction that lets you lose money after the fact, illegal content impossible to remove from critical parts of the infrastructure, days of transaction delays and high cost etc.?
      Sure, you can reach "zero operational failures" by declaring "oh, it's completely normal you can't know if you ACTUALLY got the money you supposedly got or not".
      You can also make the US murder-free by making it legal to kill someone. Most people however wouldn't say that you solved the problem but that you are an idiot.

  2. Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People actually use Visa cards?

    1. Re:Wait... by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2

      Clearly not. The 3.2 billion VISA cards in use and the 111 billion global transactions worth $10.2 trillion that were processed by VisaNet last year is because no one uses a Visa card.

    2. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See the pie charts on page 7 of this presentation.
      This is the transaction volume of 2061 randomly selected Germans, recorded over one week of 2014 and 2017, split by payment method, not taking into account periodic payments like rent.
      Credit cards like VISA are green.
      Contactless payment methods like VISA payWave are brown, but also include the contactless debit card payment method girogo.
      The light orange (Barzahlung) is paying with cash.

    3. Re:Wait... by sabri · · Score: 2

      See the pie charts on page 7 of this presentation.

      You can't compare this with other countries. In Europe, most electronic payments are processed as debit, because credit cards are not so common as they are in the U.S.

      In the U.S., you automatically get a debit card with your bank account. However, that debit card can also be run as credit (assuming you have sufficient balance). In that case, you don't need your pin code etc. In other words: your U.S. debit card can be run as both debit or credit. In (most) European countries, you'd have one debit card and if you want, a separate credit card. That credit card is not directly linked to your bank account either, it is a separate charge account which you pay once a month, kind of like with American Express.

      Here in the U.S., my Bank of America card has the Visa logo, and is directly linked to my bank account. It can be run debit and credit. My Amex is not, I pay that bill separately. In Europe, my ABN AMRO card is debit only.

      --
      I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are missing.
    4. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm..
      Here in Canada, you can have Amex, Visa, mastercard etc.but they all are credit cards. If you were to use your *credit card* to withdraw cash from a bank machine, it doesn't withdraw from your bank, but rather from your credit.

      Debit cards are used for debit transactions, or debit cards with VIsa/MC etc. logo can be used to make a payment where debit is not avilable(certain websites etc.) and payment is processed as credit card transaction, however money is withdrawn from your bank account.

      People here, or at least the ones that I know, prefer to use debit or cash instead of credit. Well, unless you have some sort of awards/discount program on your credit card. In which case you use your credit card for everything and then just ensure that you constantly keep the balance 0 by ensuring you pay off your bill within the grace period (around 16 days)

    5. Re:Wait... by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Because Germany is the whole world?

    6. Re:Wait... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      In the U.S., you automatically get a debit card with your bank account.

      Not for me...last time they tried to send me an ATM card that doubled as a debit card, I sent it back with instructions that I wanted a card that was ONLY an ATM card.

      With a proper credit card, if they get fraudulent charges, well, it isn't directly out of my checking account....with a debit card, it can not only take time to get the money back in after you prove it is fraudulent, but while that cash it out, other bills, etc can pile on top of it and you don't have the cash to cover them, and you get hit with more fees, that you have to fight to have retracted.

      No sir....not for me.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    7. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, because Germany is the country with the largest population in the region where the VISA card payment system went down.

    8. Re: Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This happens a week after the NAB payment system went down in Australia & New Zealand?
      The same week that the feds recommend we all restart our routers?
      I thought the financial networks were probably already integrated into the wiretapping network - maybe they are now....?

    9. Re:Wait... by jrumney · · Score: 1

      And debit cards are purple. Who do you think runs the biggest debit card network?

    10. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those numbers are however mostly self-reported.
      I.e. it is based on people saying "I used my debit card". The problem however is that in Germany the debit cards contain your bank account information, and unless you are in bad standing these payments do NOT go via the debit card network but via direct wire transfers, and would not be affected by such outages.
      Germany is likely in a much better position than other European countries to deal with such outages.

    11. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Germany it's Girocard

    12. Re: Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad Germany is also an exception.
      They don't use Visa and MasterCard widely as they use for debit cards "their" Maestro network.

    13. Re: Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Germany? Maestro.
      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maestro_(debit_card)

  3. ZUT ALORS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What shall we do lads?
    I know, lets cook dinner while our wives play footie.

  4. Good news! by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

    The more e-pay systems fail, the longer the goal of a cashless society is pushed back.

    1. Re:Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are free to abandon cash at any time you choose. Please do not force your flawed system on others, however.

    2. Re: Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you retarded or did you just not read the message you were replying too?

    3. Re:Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AU is outlawing large cash purchases next summer. I saved up enough cash to buy a boat, and I wanted to take my time finding the right boat and the right (well, cheapest) dock rental, but I'm going to be rushed by that deadline.

    4. Re: Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      im tarded

    5. Re: Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol good to hear, we want retarded libs not educated readers here

    6. Re: Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol good to hear, we want retarded libs not educated readers here

      And you fit right in brah

    7. Re:Good news! by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      However usually after an outage. The IT Company will fix that problem so it doesn't happen again. Thus after every outage, the system normally gets more secure. Especially if an outage causes so much revenue loss.

      Paper money and coins are not reliable as well. If I have a $100.00 bill, not all locations will take that large bill. Heck I remember when I was in college and I had a freaken $5.00 bill that I couldn't get broken up to singles. I even wen't to the campus post office, to buy a stamp, and they didn't have change so they gave me the stamp for free. All I wanted to do is use the vending machine to get a Soda.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    8. Re:Good news! by Jahta · · Score: 3, Insightful

      However usually after an outage. The IT Company will fix that problem so it doesn't happen again. Thus after every outage, the system normally gets more secure. Especially if an outage causes so much revenue loss.

      Except you can't guarantee 100% availability of any electronic system. There will always be scenarios that will take down at least part of the system; power outages, network outages, etc. Recently my local coffee shop's card reader terminal was down for a couple of days. Without the ability to accept cash they would have been unable to trade.

      Paper money and coins are not reliable as well. If I have a $100.00 bill, not all locations will take that large bill. Heck I remember when I was in college and I had a freaken $5.00 bill that I couldn't get broken up to singles. I even wen't to the campus post office, to buy a stamp, and they didn't have change so they gave me the stamp for free. All I wanted to do is use the vending machine to get a Soda.

      The cash in your pocket is about as reliable as it gets. Visa customers are being advised to use their cards to withdraw cash from their issuing bank's ATMs. It's only the retailers that have already gone cashless (and there are some) that will have a problem right now.

    9. Re:Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First world problems in Australia?! That can't be right...

    10. Re:Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      All I wanted to do is use the vending machine to get a Soda.

      All I wanted was a Pepsi!

    11. Re:Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just some proto-fascist birthing pains.

    12. Re: Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just one Pepsi!

    13. Re:Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone takes the cash out of my pocket and they can spend it. Someone takes my credit card out of my pocket and they can't use it in a store, only on-line and I'm protected there as well.

    14. Re: Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just one Pepsi!

      I'll bite...

      And she wouldn't give it to me!

    15. Re: Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not true with contactless payment

    16. Re: Good news! by powysbiker · · Score: 1

      Contactless is the same as cash for thieves.

  5. Will VISA go down on you in a theater? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Are you thinking of me when you swipe VISA?

    1. Re:Will VISA go down on you in a theater? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tis a jagged little card.

    2. Re:Will VISA go down on you in a theater? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      See? You got the reference but not the person who down-modded it. It was such a disgrace, how quickly I was replaced, I hope Mastercard is an excellent card.

  6. I was going to suggest... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And they want us to all go cashless with companies like Visa handling the transactions?

    1. Re:I was going to suggest... by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Why not? Do you have a payment network that can process in excess of a 100 billion transactions in a year?

    2. Re:I was going to suggest... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's...nice...that you're so comfortable with the possibility (read: probability) of getting electronically screwed.

    3. Re:I was going to suggest... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Doesnt matter how many they process if reliability is a problem. This is the 6th major VisaNet outage in the UK since xmas. The system is not reliable no matter how much you want to pretent

    4. Re:I was going to suggest... by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why not? Do you have a payment network that can process in excess of a 100 billion transactions in a year?

      What if ALL the forms of electronic payment go down?

      Cash doesn't depend on electrons flying between computers.

      If nothing else, it is good as a failsafe method of transaction.

      Go 100% cashless.....a good terrorist hit on the power grid, or even a bunch of banks, and you've fscked....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    5. Re:I was going to suggest... by lgw · · Score: 1

      Why not? Do you have a payment network that can process in excess of a 100 billion transactions in a year?

      There was a time when ~3000 transactions per second was impressive. These days not so much.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    6. Re:I was going to suggest... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This *is* Slashdot, so I recommend MySQL.

    7. Re:I was going to suggest... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they bought american thats why.

    8. Re: I was going to suggest... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. It's called cash.

    9. Re:I was going to suggest... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Recently a major UK bank, TSB, botched a migration and people couldn't access their money for more than a week.

      Thing is, even you go cash only, your employer won't be able to pay you and many places don't even take cash (online only accounts). If you want to buy a house with a mortgage the bank won't give you the money in a suitcase. And now you have to keep track of your balance manually too, and remember to make all those recurring payments every month or services start getting cut off and your car gets repossessed.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    10. Re:I was going to suggest... by novakyu · · Score: 2

      And why are you exactly buying a house in an emergency situation? Nobody is suggesting going 100% cash---but there are foolish people out there that are trying to go 100% cashless.

      (And I refuse to patronize any place, even a restaurant, that won't accept cash for reasonably small transactions, around $100 or less.)

    11. Re:I was going to suggest... by Contract+Gypsy · · Score: 0

      Yeah, the world Governments want us to go cashless so at a flip of a switch, you have no money! You protest against the Dictator in charge, his spies identify you, or you by accident and cut off all of your money...protest solved.

      --
      Life is in a state of dynamic equilibrium, it both blows and sucks
    12. Re:I was going to suggest... by Agripa · · Score: 1

      We have no fly lists so why not no money lists? There is no right to conduct financial transactions.

  7. Go Down by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    >> Visa Card Payment Systems Go Down Across Europe

    Thank goodness the headline said "Systems" rather than "Users". Otherwise, no one in Europe would be getting any work done today.

  8. Re:cash is king by Spy+Handler · · Score: 1

    For the most part yes, Europe is trying to make itself a cashless utopia. Except Germany (which happens to be the biggest country in Europe in terms of population and GDP). Germans love cash and gold, and don't trust online payments very much.

    Just guessing here, but it wouldn't surprise me if Germany is the place which has the least amount of Bitcoin usage out of all the major economies of the world (with China of course being the most Bitcoin frenzy bubblelicious)

  9. Bitcoin wouldn't fare any better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We already seen the high fees that occur under severe blockchain stress and making everyone use big blocks like bitcoin cash would only delay the inevitable. We need an open source payment method that is based on proper standards, not tulip seeds. The Visa/Mastercard duopoly (who accepts American Express lol) needs to go.

    1. Re:Bitcoin wouldn't fare any better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Basically only mom and pop stores don't accept AMEX, I have yet to find anywhere that has more that a few locations, that does not accept it. I use my AMEX gold on a daily basis, because it gives me the best points out of all my cards. They keep trying to push me to the platinum one, but I don't want the yearly fee.

    2. Re:Bitcoin wouldn't fare any better. by arth1 · · Score: 0

      Basically only mom and pop stores don't accept AMEX, I have yet to find anywhere that has more that a few locations, that does not accept it.

      You're probably American. TFA is about Europe, where few places except hotels, car rentals and other places catering to American tourists accept American Express. VISA, MasterCard and giro payments[*] are really the three options in Europe.

      [*]: Transactions in mainland Europe are payer initiated, not payee initiated. This makes direct deposits to anyone convenient, with no need to keep banking information secret.

  10. Oops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I must have put a decimal point in the wrong place or something. Shit! I always do that. I always mess up some mundane detail.

  11. Personal information by jfdavis668 · · Score: 0

    They were probably cut off for not handling personal information properly.

  12. cashless society by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

    Go cashless now! Yeah!

    ---
    This message brought to you by RCAD - Responsible Citizens for Anarchy & Disorder

    1. Re: cashless society by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry, once the way God-Emperor Trump has been debasing the currency comes out, we'll be back to gold, precious gold, as the only way to carry value.

      --
      Roman Mir.

    2. Re: cashless society by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      once the way God-Emperor Trump has been debasing the currency

      --
      Roman Mir.

      Yeah, it all started with the Orange One. What did you do, sleep through the entirety of your post-kindergarten education?

    3. Re:cashless society by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go cashless now! Yeah!

      Why not? You've been going dickless for a couple of decades. How's that been working out for ya?

  13. Nice timing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's the day before graduation day here in Finland, I can only imagine the feelings of busy parents in shopping centres trying to prepare a garden party for tomorrow, unable to pay for their goods.

    1. Re: Nice timing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck 'em.

      Everyone knew that this would happen.

  14. Re: cash is king by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not Europe is utopia, it's just not as stinking rotten as the rootin' tootin' US of A.

  15. If only there was some alternative... by the_skywise · · Score: 3, Funny

    So if the system crash you could still have a form of exchange to pay for services... Something that couldn't easily be copied or forged like metal or maybe certificates with highly detailed printing that could come in different denominations.

    1. Re:If only there was some alternative... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      holy shit was that hilarious.

      seriously, you're a fuckwit. kill yourself.

    2. Re:If only there was some alternative... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoa whoa whoa. That's getting pretty high tech, don't you think?
      How about clay tablets, or cows?

    3. Re:If only there was some alternative... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Oooh I know the answer to this! Mastercard!

    4. Re: If only there was some alternative... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was thinking leaves

    5. Re:If only there was some alternative... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So if the system crash you could still have a form of exchange to pay for services... Something that couldn't easily be copied or forged like metal or maybe certificates with highly detailed printing that could come in different denominations.

      I know you're joking but that's a too complex system and pointless overkill. Just imprint the card with the manual swiper like as been done basically since VISA was founded and is still done in parts of the world where the Internet isn't reliable. Let VISA take the risk. That's their entire business model.

      Cash is dead for many, many reasons, not the least of which is it's expensive to produce, protect and maintain while offering no real benefits. Having all your money in cash that you can hold is no safer or more reliable than an international banking network. It's just nostalgia coupled with security theater.

    6. Re:If only there was some alternative... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blimey, you must make parties go with a swing with that kind of banter at a joke you don't get.

    7. Re:If only there was some alternative... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fucking lol mate.
      all of that can be trivially forged, abused, and refused at whim of intermediaries and the state.

      Cryptocurrency is and will still working just fine through all that bullshit.

    8. Re:If only there was some alternative... by Sejus · · Score: 1

      Visa does not take the risk. If you are a vendor and accept payment from a declined card you eat the charge. We take offline payments in the restaurant industry when the internet goes down and if they are not approved we are not paid.

  16. Always carry cash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even though I use my debit card for nearly everything, I always carry cash as well. If I hadn't, this evening I would have had no booze and no chicken dinner this evening.

    I bet the idiots who say they never carry cash are feeling a bit stupid. And yes, maybe the ATMs are working but they'll be massive queues and they'll soon run out of notes.

    What are the odds that this is some sort of organised attack? Probably 50/50 vs. incompetence.

    1. Re:Always carry cash by ledow · · Score: 1

      Nothing wrong with "never carry cash".

      You have to be a dickhead not to have a backup of anything you rely on, though.

      If you have a Visa, get a Mastercard too.

      P.S. All the ATMs still worked, so you could... just get cash out.
      P.P.S. It was mostly contactless that didn't work. Chip & PIN was fine.
      P.P.P.S. Living day-to-day such that your dinner relies on you buying it now rather than "Oh, well, I'll have something else" is another "not enough redundancy" problem.

    2. Re: Always carry cash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FWIW. In Europe right now and I succeeded at 1 ATM and 1 retailer (chip and pin). Failed at 1 ATM, and 2 retailers (1 contactless and 1 chip and pin) ... All these attempts were in the last 5 hours starting and ending with failures...

    3. Re:Always carry cash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      P.S. All the ATMs still worked, so you could... just get cash out.
      Yeah, I mentioned that. And the problems with it.

      P.P.S. It was mostly contactless that didn't work. Chip & PIN was fine.
      It wasn't 'fine', there were serious problems with both.

      P.P.P.S. Living day-to-day such that your dinner relies on you buying it now rather than "Oh, well, I'll have something else" is another "not enough redundancy" problem.
      I didn't say I would have had no food, I said 'No chicken dinner' (and no booze). I had canned food as backup.

      Summary:
      It's like you read my post but also didn't read it at the same time. Nice job.

  17. Re: cash is king by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who bails who out?

  18. GDPR by Tukz · · Score: 4, Funny

    VISA probably forgot to respond to an GDPR e-mail and got cut off.

    --
    - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
  19. Chip + pin by Typing_Ptarmigan · · Score: 2

    One reason US credit cards have chip + signature instead of chip + PIN (like in Europe) is ostensibly because point-of-sale (POS) terminal data connections are intermittent in Europe, compared to POS terminals in the US. Chip + PIN can authenticate without the POS terminal being "on the net;" the POS terminal can "catch up" later when it does have connectivity. It'll be interesting to see why that strategy doesn't seem to be working (TFA currently mentions "payment cards with different payment technologies" but doesn't say what those technologies are).

    1. Re:Chip + pin by Milvuss · · Score: 2

      I live in France. I have a VISA (chip+PIN) card since the start ot this century and never once had to pay cash because of a faulty POS terminal. Sometimes I had to try several time, but it's always was because the POS was slightly damaged (too many rough customers ?).

      Impressive reliability I would tell.

    2. Re:Chip + pin by Sejus · · Score: 1

      The PIN is not stored on the mag strip, it has to phone home. I am in the states and admin POS systems, they are all chip+pin and if the internet goes down we can either store the charge and eat it if it is declined or manually call for a approval which can take a while. We use the later on charges over 200$. (Fine dining)

    3. Re:Chip + pin by jrumney · · Score: 1

      Debit cards in Europe often contain a flag (and some used to have it printed on the card, but I haven't seen that for some time) saying they can only be used for online transactions, as there is no way to ensure the funds are available if the transaction is offline. I would be surprised if it was the case that data connections were more intermittent in Europe - I know there is a lot of very old infrastructure in Europe like 2000 year old sewers compared with the US, but telecommunications infrastructure is only rarely that old.

    4. Re:Chip + pin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course the PIN is not on the mag strip, that's the whole point of the chip!
      And the chip can indeed authorize both the PIN itself and transactions offline.
      If that doesn't work in the US that limitation does NOT come from the technology itself.

  20. POS terminal talks to VISA? by rastos1 · · Score: 1

    I thought that the POS terminal talks to clearing center for the bank that issued the card. So normally if you have an account from a bank in your country, then it connects to the clearing center in that country. And the actual clearing happens in a relatively short window each night. Does the POS terminal actually talk to a VISA on each transaction?

    1. Re:POS terminal talks to VISA? by Mr_Silver · · Score: 2

      In short, no it doesn't work anything like that.

      Have a read of this, more specifically the sections titled "four party model" and "What happens when you buy something".

      --
      Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
    2. Re:POS terminal talks to VISA? by Typing_Ptarmigan · · Score: 1

      Most POS terminals in the US use chip + signature so authorization is via "the net" and is done each time the VISA card is used. AFAIK, POS terminals in Europe use chip + PIN, authorization is handled without "the net," and reconciliation is done in a daily/nightly batch.

    3. Re:POS terminal talks to VISA? by Milvuss · · Score: 1

      Depends of the amount. Small amounts do not need authorization. Big amounts almost always need it. And there is also some random checks from time to time. You can tell because the transaction is (slightly) longer.

    4. Re:POS terminal talks to VISA? by Milvuss · · Score: 1

      I forgot to tell it does also depend on the card. When I was a student, I had a "Visa Electron", which always needs authorization, so I had to be careful in conventions and other venues without net.

    5. Re:POS terminal talks to VISA? by jrumney · · Score: 1

      I don't know what decade your bank is living in, but my bank clears transactions within seconds - I often get an SMS before the receipt has printed out.

    6. Re:POS terminal talks to VISA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had it, it worked everywhere for me save in stuff like highway road tolls (at least there was also a manned booth and we could call someone to come over!)

      The behavior in gas pumps was annoying : it checks whether you have a large enough amount of money to cover the max serving (I don't know what it is, maybe the amount to fill a large car tank). So, if I didn't have the largeish sum but wanted to get something like 10 liters or 20 EUR worth of fuel, I couldn't.
      It also worked instantly for paying on the Internet on foreign sites (even automatically paying in dollars or gbp) and the payment ceilings didn't matter to me.
      When I "graduated" to a real card I thought, well, the authorization on everything didn't bother me. I would rather have it, but not authorizing on everything for millions people is cheaper for the banks and debit card processors.

    7. Re:POS terminal talks to VISA? by rastos1 · · Score: 1

      Getting notification from the bank is one thing. Money disappearing from your account is second. And money appearing on the merchant's account is third.

      In fact a friend of mine had a situation where the merchant forgot to complete the transaction within a month period and the money that was "locked" on friend's account became unlocked again. From a legal point of view - after lengthy discussion with the bank - my friend got the goods for free.

    8. Re:POS terminal talks to VISA? by rastos1 · · Score: 1

      Yes, I should have mentioned that. I'm in Europe and the card is chip&pin (as is the case in most of EU, I believe). My main point still is: why the technical problems at Visa cause problems with payments in Europe? a) I assume that European chip&pin cards were affected. b) even if the authorization is done via "the net", doesn't that mean only "via network connection to the clearing center" and not "via network connection to Visa" ?

  21. 5/9 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hack of the Century

  22. Re: cash is king by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When do you think the US ever bailed out Europe?

  23. Some merchants are chip+pin only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WHSmiths at East Midlands Airport said they contactless payments are failing but chip+pin arent, Google pay still worked for me.

  24. haven't heard that for so long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Doesn't matter, I'll probably get hit by a car anyway

  25. Re: cash is king by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    World War 2?

  26. Re: cash is king by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Waiting until you're attacked isn't exactly coming to the rescue.

  27. Re: cash is king by Sejus · · Score: 1

    WW2?

  28. Re: cash is king by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Moldova is nice

  29. Re: cash is king by pezezin · · Score: 1

    The biggest war effort by far was done by the Soviet Union, but 70 years of Hollywood have done a nice job promoting the USA as the saviors.