Compensation may be paid for retail chaos

7 December 2004

BRUSSELS – The company that manages Belgium’s payment and cash card network has said it will pay compensation if it caused the failure of the system at the weekend.

Shopkeepers and businesses claimed trade was hit by 20 percent when there was a breakdown of the cash card payment system on Saturday, followed by cash machines running out of money. In the midst of the chaos, thousands of customers abandoned purchases.

On Tuesday, Banksys, which runs the system, admitted 220,000 debit card transactions had failed, as well as 60,000 credit card transactions.

Banksys spent Monday in a series of meetings with FEDIS (the Belgian Federation of Distribution Companies), the Belgian Association of Banks (ABB) and the Flemish business union Unizo, as well as with consumer watchdog Test-Achats and government ministers Freya Van den Bossche and Didier Reynders.

Afterwards, Fedis said the discussions about compensation had been “constructive” while Unizo added that it was waiting for a solution as quickly as possible.

However, Banksys’ spokeswoman Marina de Moerlooze warned the company wouldn’t make any firm commitments until it had established the exact reasons for the failure in the system. Investigations could take several days, she added.

If the failure was the fault of Banksys, the company would assume its responsibility.

Subject: Belgian news