“No card payment possible”: Several shops have been reporting problems with card payments for days. Because there is a complex software error, the solution could, in extreme cases, take the next few days. FOCUS Online says where you can now easily pay by card – and where you’d rather take cash with you.
As FOCUS Online learned, there has been a problem with card payments for a specific reader in Germany since Tuesday evening. Around 5 p.m. the first branches are said to have reported failures. Specifically, it is a reader of the type H5000 from the US manufacturer Verifone.
Branch managers reacted after the first outages and ordered their employees to restart the cash registers. The desired effect did not occur. Giro, credit and other bank cards triggered error messages and in individual cases paralyzed the entire cash register. As a result, the affected readers were switched off. Since then, customers have only been able to pay with cash.
The worst case scenario for discounters and supermarkets! The majority of customers pay by card, smartphone or smartwatch, especially at the weekend. If you don’t have cash with you and can’t shop there, you go to the competition. At the same time, more cash also means higher costs. Because money transport companies and banks charge higher fees.
no Individual cash registers in shops and entire branches of Netto Marken-Discount, Edeka, Rossmann, Aldi Nord and also Kaufland are affected.
Not all cash registers are paralyzed at the same time in an affected branch. Supermarkets often use several card readers. At Netto Marken-Discount, for example, paying by card at the self-service checkouts works smoothly.
In individual cases, problems can also arise at petrol stations. It is important to note that problems can arise wherever the affected card reader is used.
Aldi Süd, Lidl, Rewe and Penny are not affected by the failure. The reason is that the shops don’t even use the H5000 model in the first place.
For the next few days, take cash with you when you go shopping. ATMs are not affected by the outage. At Aldi Süd, Lidl, Rewe and Penny you can withdraw cash free of charge for every purchase. This is helpful if you want to go to the hairdresser afterwards and cannot pay by card there.
Ideally, take as much cash with you as you calculate for the purchase. So you can take all the important groceries, drinks and drugstore items from your weekly shopping with you. Find out in good time whether card payments are possible in the branch. Look out for notices at the entrance and notices in the branch.
Corresponding notes look like this:
A Verfione H5000 card reader:
The device is one of the three market leaders in Germany.
Completely unclear.
As FOCUS Online learned, the technical error is complex.
The US manufacturer Verifone only responded to press inquiries on Thursday evening. Technicians should fix the problem as soon as possible. The company apologized for the inconvenience.
Leading payment providers in Germany do not believe in a quick solution. Payone speaks of a “manual intervention” that would be necessary to get the problem under control quickly, and competitor Concardis even speaks directly of replacing the devices. Appropriate dealers would be supported.
Apparently, the retail industry is already starting to do this. A Rossmann employee reported on Friday morning: “Our device was replaced on Wednesday evening. Everything has worked since then.” And an Aldi Nord branch also said on Friday: “Device changed at a checkout, checkout 3 can card payment again.”
In principle, the affected companies provide information with notices and displays at the entrance. “Card payment is not possible with us” is there, for example. In many cases, announcements are made at the same time.
In an Edeka branch in Munich it said on Wednesday: “Dear customers, we would like to point out that card payments are currently not possible in our branch. We ask for your understanding.” Customers will also find corresponding information boards at the checkout.
Then you have to pay for the purchases with cash. If you don’t have enough money, the purchases have to stay in the store.
From a purely legal point of view, a sales contract between the supermarket and the consumer is only concluded at the checkout. If the card payment does not work and the customer does not have any cash with them, the purchase contract is deemed to have failed. The goods must then remain in the branch.
This is particularly annoying for supermarkets and discounters. You then have to put the products back on the shelves accordingly. In some cases, frozen goods and meat even have to be disposed of when the cold chain has been interrupted for a long period of time and the products no longer feel “cool enough” .
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