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Major cyber outage leaves stores with cash-only option

Major cyber outage leaves stores with cash-only option
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Major supermarkets, including Morrisons, are among stores affected by an IT outage that has made card readers in-operational, leaving the shoppers stranded.

There have been reports that Waitrose stores have been affected and that the supermarket had experienced some issues processing contactless payments in a number of stores. Shops were able to make chip & Pin and cash payments as usual.


There were similar reports about Morrisons where customers struggled to make payments this morning (19). The issues seemed to be around contactless payments with shoppers advised to use cash or chip and pin.

A number of independent retailers have been affected with card payments down.

Eight-store operator Jempson’s posted on X explaining all store card machines were down, telling shoppers to use its post offices to withdraw money.

Widespread disruption to businesses, rail services, and GP practices has also been sparked by the global IT outage. Great Western Railway said its trains are running as normal, but passengers have been experiencing difficulties with ticket issuing and on-screen customer information. In Bristol and Somerset, patients are being turned away from GP and medical practices as clinical systems are down, BBC reported.

Some Co-op stores have also urged shoppers to pay using cash only, posting signs around the shops. Staff members have reportedly told customers that the issues are affecting all Co-op sites in the UK. Regional Co-op stores, which are run independently from the national shops, also reported issues this morning.

Issues have been reported in relation to NatWest, HSBC, Santander and Lloyds Bank. There have also been reports of problems with Visa.

However, many independent stores were not affected by the outage.