Card payment disruptions
What is a PIN failure?
PIN payments are the most common way of paying at the counter in the Netherlands. Four out of five payments are made electronically and consumers trust that they can always use debit cards. Yet sometimes there is a PIN failure, a temporary interruption in payments made with debit cards due to:
- a technical fault in the payment terminal,
- a problem with the telecom connection of the payment terminal or
- a malfunction at a bank or payment service provider.
As a result, debit card payments can temporarily not be processed, in one shop, in one district or throughout the country.
Impact of pin disruptions
Most pin failures are local and are resolved quickly but sometimes a national failure lasts longer. Although pin outages are rare, they can have a major impact on business owners’ operations and consumers’ ease of payment. It is therefore important to be prepared and to know what alternatives are available.
To quickly identify and share disruptions, the CONNECT platform has been set up within the sector: a reporting system in which chain parties immediately register and exchange information with each other.
Measures for entrepreneurs to be prepared for a PIN interruption
The shorter a breakdown lasts, the better it is for both customers and entrepreneurs. By taking technical and organisational measures, entrepreneurs can limit the consequences and guarantee the continuity of payments.
Betaalvereniging Nederland encourages entrepreneurs to actively prepare for this and offers practical advice via PIN.NL(opens in new window) .
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Examples of fallback options
In the event of a PIN failure, it is important for retailers to have a good fallback option. Paying in cash is not always possible, as more and more consumers carry little or no cash. Alternatives include:
- a mobile payment request via QR code, through the segregated giro payment chain;
- iDEAL payments at the counter, also via the cashless payment chain;
- a spare PIN terminal on a different network and with a different transaction processor;
- a contract for temporary offline PIN payments, without internet.
Use the decision aid for (digital) fallback options in case of PIN failures(opens in new window) to determine which solutions best suit your business.
Role of the Payments Association
Betaalvereniging Nederland works with banks, payment service providers and business organisations to keep payment transactions as reliable as possible. We collect data on failures, analyse trends and advise on fallback options.
The PIN website provides practical information and support for business owners who want to prepare for PIN disruptions.