Moneris experiences payment machine issues for second time in as many days during holiday shopping rush

For the second day in a row, last-minute holiday shoppers experienced debit and credit machine issues.

Moneris initially posted a statement on X that was identical to the one they issued Friday, saying it is suffering “intermittent processing issues,” but that post was deleted and replaced with one saying it is experiencing “intermittent network slowness that may impact transactions.”

Service disruption tracker Downdetector showed Interac and Visa users began reporting issues after 2 p.m. and reports began to subside about an hour later.

“We are currently experiencing some network slowness but all systems are operational and our teams are monitoring all systems closely,” Moneris communications director Darren Leroux told CityNews.

“As you can imagine, we’re busy focusing on our merchants.”

Just before 6 p.m., Moneris said the issue had been resolved.

Moneris describes itself on its website as “Canada’s #1 payment processor” based on credit and debit transaction data.

Moneris is a joint venture between Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal.

“This is just brutal:” CFIB says outages couldn’t come at a worse time

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the back-to-back outages are “just brutal”.

“These are the busiest possible days for the retailers, small restaurants and independent service businesses across Canada. To lose access to a method of payment is just outrageous. This is so harmful to small businesses that are trying to eke out a year under very difficult circumstances,” Kelly said.

He says the outages also have a big impact on consumers who may be cash-strapped and looking to put items on their credit cards.

“I can imagine stores across the country are seeing piles of things left at the counter and shopping carts abandoned in the store as consumers have very few other options,” Kelly said.

Kelly suspects many merchants will look to end their contracts with Moneris and switch to a different provider, but that’s not something that can happen overnight.

“I think this one of those areas where the market will dictate where things go,” he said. “It’s a shame though because this is coming at a time when businesses are pretty desperate. Canada Emergency Business Account loans are due on Jan. 18, and many businesses are struggling to find the cash to repay a $40,000 loan… and many are counting on a decent holiday season. If they miss out on one or two partial days of sales that could put them even further behind.”