Brits could get compensation for Visa meltdown as top MP demands answers from bosses
Treasury Committee Chair Nicky Morgan has written to the card company’s chief exec asking her to come to Parliament and explain how their systems failed so badly last week
SHOPPERS could get compensation for last week’s Visa card meltdown as a top MP demands they provide answers.
The Treasury Committee Chair Nicky Morgan has written to bosses asking them to explain how their systems failed so badly - and they could be hauled in front of Parliament if they do not so satisfactorily.
Customers were left raging as the payment chaos meant they missed trains, ended up in traffic chaos and couldn’t make purchases.
Visa blamed a hardware failure and apologised for the “inconvenience” caused, but Mrs Morgan is looking for more explanation as to how the “chaos” was allowed to happen.
She has sent a letter to its European chief executive Charlotte Hogg calling for details over the nature of the hardware failure, what controls have been put in place to prevent similar incidents, and why processing was not switched to a backup site.
The ex-Cabinet minister has also asked Visa to specify how many cards were ultimately affected and if any customers saw money leave their accounts despite transactions not being completed.
And Mrs Morgan wants to know if customers or merchants will be entitled to compensation after millions were inconvenienced by chaos in stores and huge queue at cash machines.
Ms Hogg is a former Bank of England rate setter, whose brief stint as deputy governor ended last year when she was forced to resign from the role.
It came after she broke the Bank's code of conduct by failing to declare that her brother worked for Barclays, which saw a damning report from the Treasury Select Committee.
She has been given until the end of June 15 to respond to the queries, but still risks being hauled in front of the Treasury Select Committee to answer further questions.
Mrs Morgan said: “A third of all spending in the UK is processed by Visa. It’s deeply worrying, therefore, that such a vital part of the country’s payment infrastructure can fail so catastrophically.
“The consequences were sudden and severe. Many consumers and businesses were left stranded on Friday, unable to make or accept payments, with chaos reported in shops
“The Committee has asked Ms Hogg to answer its questions on the disruption.
"If it is not satisfied with the response, the Committee may consider asking Ms Hogg to provide oral evidence.”
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In response to the letter Visa released a statement: “Visa wishes to apologise once again for the partial service disruption on Friday June 1, 2018 which meant that some customers did not receive the level of service they have come to expect from us.
"While we resolved this matter as quickly as possible, the fact that we had any disruption in our service is unacceptable.
"We will of course be responding in full to the Committee.”
