If you’ve ever been at the checkout, only for your card to decline and your heart to race, you’ll know how frustrating a payment outage can be. That’s exactly what happened to over 3,000 Westpac customers recently, when the bank experienced a widespread EFTPOS outage. The timing couldn’t have been worse, with many businesses in the middle of the hectic Christmas trade. So, what happened, and what did Westpac do to fix it?
The Outage Hits Thousands
The EFTPOS issue began shortly after 12:30 PM on Wednesday, and for the next several hours, Westpac customers found themselves unable to make transactions. From simple card payments to more complex merchant services, everything seemed to grind to a halt. Westpac quickly acknowledged the problem, stating that some merchant systems were degraded, and EFTPOS terminals were struggling to process transactions.
Customers took to social media to vent their frustrations, especially as it was right in the middle of peak trading season. “It’s down at my company as well so we can’t do any sales,” one frustrated business customer posted, highlighting how badly the outage was affecting sales. Retail customers were also impacted, with some cards simply not working, making the whole situation even more frustrating for those just trying to pay for their groceries or gifts.
Westpac’s Response
While the outage left many scrambling to find alternative payment methods, Westpac was quick to issue an apology. “We’re aware of certain issues impacting merchant terminals,” a Westpac representative said, reports Yahoo Finance. The bank assured customers that it was working to restore services as quickly as possible and promised to get things back to normal soon.
By 6 PM, the retail and mobile banking services were up and running again, and EFTPOS payments were reportedly functioning as usual. For businesses still facing issues, Westpac promised to continue working on a fix. But, as the outage stretched on, many wondered whether there was anything more that could have been done to prevent such a disruption.
A Wake-Up Call for Digital Payments
This outage serves as a reminder of how reliant we’ve become on digital payments. In a world where cash is no longer king, any disruption to services can cause a ripple effect, especially during the busiest retail period of the year. It also raises the question: what more can banks do to ensure their systems are more resilient, especially during peak periods?
Despite the frustration caused, Westpac has promised to continue investigating and resolve any remaining issues. But with more people shifting to digital transactions, the question remains: will banks do enough to prevent this from happening again? It’s clear that as we head into an increasingly cashless society, ensuring reliable payment systems is essential—not just for customer satisfaction but for keeping businesses running smoothly.
