Cardnet glitch sees thousands double charged
A glitch saw double payments taken from thousands of shoppers and pub-goers on 29 August. Those affected should be automatically refunded, but be sure to check your bank statement just in case.
Duplicate card payments were taken from numerous shoppers due to a glitch with the card payment processing provider Cardnet.
On 29 August, money was taken from thousands of consumer’s bank accounts twice, despite transactions only showing up once on shop, pub and restaurant receipts.
In one extreme example, a woman was charged £36,000 for an £18,000 car purchased on the day.
Because the issue lay with the card payment provider Cardnet it means customers from all banks were at risk.
The provider says just under 5% of Cardnet machine transactions were affected.
While Cardnet data shows the majority affected Visa debit cards, everyone is being advised to check their bank statements.
What happens if you were affected
Customers affected by the mistake should expect to have been automatically reimbursed by Tuesday (4 September).
But it's absolutely worth checking your statements to make sure you haven't been left out of pocket.
If you spot an error that has not been refunded, you are advised to contact your bank. They should be notifying customers about what has happened and what to do if concerned about a double payment.
What is Cardnet and how have they responded?
Cardnet is a joint venture between Lloyds Bank and First Data, responsible for processing more than 1.2 billion card transactions each year.
On its website, Cardnet said: "Cardnet sincerely apologises for the issue and the inconvenience caused, we continue to work closely with all parties to resolve this issue swiftly."
A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: "A small number of transactions processed last Thursday by Cardnet were duplicated. Action has been taken to rectify this situation as quickly as possible and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."
How badly were consumers affected?
A 25-year-old woman from Surrey, Francesa Brady, overpaid £18,000 on a Mercedes on Wednesday (29 September) and was consequently left thousands of pounds overdrawn.
Brady only realised she had been double charged for the purchase on Friday, two days later – too late for Mercedes to resurrect the issue before the weekend.
On Monday, Brady found the money returned to her account and Mercedes were willing to pay for the extra charges incurred.
That was undoubtedly the most extreme case, but thousands of others were inconvenienced by the double charge, many of whom took to social media to complain that their banks hadn't proved particularly helpful in resolving the issue.
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