Countdown confirmed a network issue was impacting a number of their systems (file picture). Photo: 123rf
Shoppers faced issues with paywave and Apple Pay at some Countdown supermarkets today, just days after an eftpos terminal outage caused chaos nationwide, and as shoppers prepare for Christmas.
At Countdown Botany eftpos transactions could only be completed to a maximum of $200 and shoppers had to sign for the transaction on Sunday, a customer told Stuff.
Countdown confirmed a network issue was impacting a number of systems including their online shopping website, Onecard and eftpos, but said the issue had now been resolved.
There were long queues at Countdown Ponsonby, Auckland around lunchtime. One shopper said she only had Apple Pay with her and would have to leave all her groceries and go home. "It's a bit annoying," she said.
A Countdown worker said the store's eftpos was working, but paywave and Apple Pay were down.
The worker said she had "no idea" when pay wave and Apple Pay would be working again. "It's a nationwide outage, so we have no idea right now."
Countdown in Karori was also affected, with some of its terminals down for about an hour, but one terminal was still working, another Stuff reporter said.
"There was a large trolley full of groceries parked up by one counter while customer headed out to the ATM to get cash. Other checkouts have fairly short queues."
A Countdown spokesperson confirmed a network issue was currently impacting on a number of systems across Countdown including their online shopping website, App, customer care, Onecard and Eftpos.
"We are working with our partner to get this fixed as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience. We will provide further updates as we can."
Eftpos NZ said that its payment terminals and network were fully operational, and there were no active issues.
The issues with paywave and Apple Pay followed problems with eftpos terminals that caused a nationwide outage on Wednesday, leaving shoppers stranded at the checkout.
At midday on Sunday the company's website had a message saying: "The connectivity issues experienced on Wednesday have been resolved." The same message was on Eftpos NZ's technology helpline.
Last week Eftpos NZ said there were 60,000 devices connected to its network, and 50,000 merchants were customers.
Retail NZ has also been approached for comment.
This story was originally published on Stuff.