Outage tracker Downdetector is showing reports of shoppers having trouble with card payments this morning, while some companies can’t process payments and airlines have had to cancel flights
Major banks and businesses across the world are experiencing issues this morning following a global IT network outage.
UK shoppers have been taking to social media to complain about problems with their payments this morning. Santander has been replying to customers on social media, who say their cards are being declined in stores. Santander said: “We are hearing that card payments may be affected.” They went on to add: “We suggest trying again in a short while and checking news bulletins for updates in the meantime.”
Metro Bank also confirmed some people are having issues with its phone lines. The bank tweeted: “Due to the reported global IT outage we are having problems with our phone lines and you may have trouble getting through. If you need to transact immediately, please use online banking or our mobile app. Some payment services are unavailable due to the wider IT problems.”
Morrisons told the BBC it is having “some issues” with payment in some of their shops, while the Co-op also tweeted: “We have been affected by the global IT outage, unfortunately.” Tesco, Asda and Iceland say they’re unaffected. Meanwhile, fans of pub chain Wetherspoon say they’re having issues using its app this morning, while others claimed some pubs have told customers they’re only accepting cash this morning.
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Visa has issued a statement, saying it is aware some people are unable to make payments. A spokesperson said: “We are aware of reports of people being unable to make payments and are working with our financial institution clients to understand any impact on their services to cardholders and merchants.”
It added: “There is no indication of any impact on Visa’s ability to process payments from this issue. Our systems are operating normally.” Social media users have also been sharing images of signs outside businesses this morning. In one photo posted online, a sign has been posted outside a branch of the bakery and coffee shop chain Gail’s which reads: “No card payment in store at the moment. The internet is low across all Gail’s. Coffee on the house of put your order through click and collect. Thank you. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Some businesses are also struggling to take bill payments. Bristol Water said it is experiencing company wide IT issues but the billing department remains operating. On X, the company posted: “Please be aware we are experiencing company wide IT Issues – we are still able to take emergency calls at this time.”
Elsewhere in the UK, the LSE Group, which operates the London Stock Exchange, said it’s currently unable to publish news. A statement reads: “RNS news service is currently experiencing a third party global technical issue, preventing news from being published on www.londonstockexchange.com.
“Technical teams are working to restore the service. Other services across the group, including London Stock Exchange, continue to operate as normal.” Train passengers in the UK have also been warned to expect delays. People in Australia and Asia began reporting issues early this morning, with reports also coming out of the US overnight as well.
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Businesses worldwide have been affected, while several airports and airlines have been hit with issues with their IT systems, leaving some passengers unable to travel and flights cancelled. The outage appears to be linked to Crowdstrike, which produces antivirus software, after it issued a software update.
Writing on X, CrowdStrike president George Kurtz said the problem was caused by a “defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts”. He said: “This is not a security incident or cyber attack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.“
It comes after Microsoft said it is taking “mitigating actions” after first reporting an outage across its online services at around midnight UK time. Microsoft said in an updated statement shortly before 11am: “We’re aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform. We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming.”
