Credit Card Outage Disrupts Payments Across Japan

A nationwide credit card system outage disrupted payments across Japan on Thursday, Kyodo News reported.

People could not make purchases at convenience stores and other merchants. So commuters using East Japan Railway Co. also could not buy passes.

In Tokyo, commuters also lost access to the Mobile Pasmo app for public transport. Kyodo reported that the cause remained unknown.

Providers report payment failures

Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS Co., a major credit card provider, said the trouble began around 8 a.m. in Japan. That was 2300 GMT on Wednesday.

The company said card payments “could not be processed at some merchants.” Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co. also reported similar problems, according to Kyodo.

Still, the report did not give a number of affected cards, shops or passengers. It also did not say whether all card brands faced the same problem.

Transit users hit in Tokyo

East Japan Railway passengers struggled to buy passes during the outage, and Mobile Pasmo riders faced the same trouble.

Mobile Pasmo lets riders use a phone for transit access. Because the outage affected the app, some commuters could not tap in through that service.

Kyodo did not report a confirmed cause or a restoration time. Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co. were the named providers in the report.