This is a question you may ask yourself as you’re standing at the checkout….Unfortunately, it’s often at these inopportune moments when you discover an issue.
Recently, many financial institutions have been faced with card declines at local retailers. Service providers such as Interac are working diligently behind the scenes to understand and resolve the issue. The banking system is a complex ecosystem that includes service providers, financial institutions, merchants and vendors, and the end users. And we all rely on each other to solve issues as they happen, as quickly as possible so that you, the end user, aren’t impacted.
It’s not only the ecosystem, but the technology itself is also complex. As technology is upgraded, it can sometimes have unintended disruptions that can’t be anticipated in a testing environment.
As part of the evolution of technology, our newest cards feature mandated new chip technology, which was a requirement for all financial institutions in order to help protect your security and privacy. Due to unforeseen circumstances these new cards aren’t compatible with some of the older point of sale terminals. This issue isn’t a credit union issue, nor a bank issue, but one that has impacted the entire ecosystem. Our vendor partners have been working with merchants to resolve the issue, but this requires hardware upgrades that take time.
According to the latest update, the process of resolving the issue is near-completion. Your debit card will function at ATMs and vendors that haven’t been impacted. Interac suggests that if you experience an issue, to try the contactless payment method, as the issue arises when a PIN is needed. If your purchase is over the contactless limit, consider dividing the bill into two separate payments.
Read more from the Interac website.
