Banks solve problems with Mastercard payments

Customers with NatWest and other banks have struggled to get their payments through.

August Graham
Monday 12 June 2023 12:24 EDT
Mastercard said that it was aware of reports of issues (Andrew Matthews/PA)
Mastercard said that it was aware of reports of issues (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

NatWest has said an issue which its customers were having with Mastercard payments has been resolved.

“Some customers who tried to use their Mastercard debit or credit card online may have experienced issues when attempting to make a payment earlier today,” a spokesperson for the bank, which also runs the Royal Bank of Scotland, said.

“This issue has now been resolved by Mastercard and we would like to thank our customers for their patience.”

Earlier, some Mastercard customers had struggled to shop online as the global payments giant was facing technical issues.

“We are aware of these reports and are looking into them,” Mastercard said.

“At this point, we can confirm that transactions continue to flow successfully across our payments network, but some additional services may be temporarily unavailable.

“As soon as we have additional information, we will provide an update.”

We are aware that some customers who have tried to use their Mastercard debit or credit card online may have experienced issues when attempting to make a payment

NatWest Group spokesperson

It was unclear if the problems had been fixed for all Mastercard users, or just NatWest’s banks, which include Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank and Coutts.

The issues impacted only online payments, NatWest said on Monday, while the bank’s customers were not having any trouble making point-of-sale transactions.

The problems started at around midday on Monday.

In a message to customers, NatWest said: “You can still use your card at ATMs to take out cash.”

It said people should get in touch via the app or a private message on social media if they need help, but warned that customer support times might be longer than usual.

Earlier in the day a NatWest Group spokesperson said: “We are aware that some customers who have tried to use their Mastercard debit or credit card online may have experienced issues when attempting to make a payment.

“This issue is affecting a number of banks that work with Mastercard and we are working closely with them to resolve the matter as soon as possible.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in