Online payment platform Square has suffered a widespread outage, causing considerable disruption to businesses across Australia and around the world. Small and medium-sized businesses heavily reliant on Square for processing payments have been particularly affected.
Numerous reports have emerged of financial losses as a result of this outage. Business owners have shared their frustration as transactions appear to be approved, yet payments are failing to register on the businesses’ end. Tim Webbers, the owner of Smartronic, expressed his frustration after losing hundreds of dollars in sales during the outage.
Square’s Response and Ongoing Resolution
Square has acknowledged the severity of the issue and is actively working on a solution. A Square spokesperson expressed their awareness of the “disruption” to businesses and emphasized the importance of having their services operational for businesses. They assured customers that their engineering team is diligently working to resolve the problem. However, the outage has persisted, prompting businesses to call for quicker resolution.
Implications for Cash Transactions
Businesses have been forced to resort to cash transactions during the outage, impacting those who predominantly rely on card payments. For instance, Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory, where 80% of customers usually pay with cards, had to request cash payments due to technical Square issues. This incident highlights the importance of cash as a reliable payment option, even in our tech-driven society.
Square customers await a swift resolution as the outage continues to affect their operations. The payment platform’s engineers are working diligently to restore services, and further updates are expected as progress is made.
