Loading...
Main page  |  FAQ  |  What to do if the payment system fails?

What to do if the payment system fails?

2016-06-11 00:00:00

Mass application of the achievements of information and computing technologies in the field of financial relations stimulates the development of cashless payment systems. The popularity of such resources is growing steadily. Conducting transactions using the web and modern gadgets has become a common component of the everyday life of modern people.

You can buy everything on the Internet. In this case, it is not at all necessary to leave the house. You can make a purchase or pay for various services even while on the street using a smartphone or laptop. Convenience, time savings and the absence of unnecessary time and territorial restrictions fully pay off the insignificant commissions charged by modern payment systems for making money transfers.

Payment systems are responsible for the movement of money between the accounts of the buyer and the seller or the executor. They can be national, international or regional. It is the quality of their work that determines the timeliness of calculations, and hence the completion of the task or the delivery of goods. But since there is no perpetual motion machine, no one has yet come up with a payment system that works without failures.

Computers and online resources depend on the quality of the software, the uninterrupted supply of electricity, and the human factor should not be ruled out. Therefore, errors during the operation of the payment system are not uncommon. Here it is worth mentioning right away that the popularity of this or that system directly depends on the frequency of failures. The more often they occur, the worse for her, since this may indicate systemic problems and her unreliability. And if the mistakes are not corrected, then the reputation of a particular resource very quickly deteriorates, it loses its customers and, quite logically, is liquidated after a certain period.

 

Where can you face payment system failures?

People are faced with payment systems not only in banks. They serve monetary settlements:

  • when paying for goods at a regular outlet or online store.
  • when making payments through ATMs or terminals.
  • when paying on specialized sites on the Internet.

Wherever people make payments with a payment card, using Internet banking or a virtual account, the payment systems that service these payments are responsible for the timeliness and speed of receipts. Given that the number of users of non-cash transfers is constantly increasing, the main task of any payment system is to ensure the stability of settlements. This cannot be done without constant software and hardware upgrades. Therefore, one of the most common reasons for payment system failures is updating and testing equipment or the online service itself. Although employees of financial companies during maintenance work try to ensure the stability of payments with duplicate equipment, it is not always possible to avoid some malfunctions in the operation.

The second most frequent factor causing errors in the correct operation of the payment system and affecting the quality of settlements is the level of knowledge of the user and the personnel who serve the settlement devices and the actual payments. Often, repeated withdrawals from the account occur through the fault of the user himself, who did not understand the instructions for non-cash payment and transferred the same amount of money from his account several times.

In addition, employees of processing centers can make mistakes, confirming or rejecting payments of their customers. There are often mistakes in withdrawing money from payment cards in stores. This may be due to the operation of POS terminals or the insufficient level of knowledge of the sellers, who may either conduct a transaction twice or not complete it.

And, of course, the development of cashless payments was not spared by scammers. After all, where big money is spinning, there will always be people who want to take possession of it.

 

If there was a failure of the payment system

So what are the main signs of a payment system failure?

  • if, SMS-messages began to arrive about debiting money from the account, without the participation of its owner.
  • impossible to complete the transaction.
  • instead of one write-off of money, there were several.

If the above circumstances arise, you must be prompt and contact technical support as soon as possible and in any available way. Information on possible communication options and addresses for feedback are located on the online money transfer resource. The variety of opportunities to establish contact in the event of problems is a kind of indicator of the reliability of a particular electronic payment system.

The sooner the user informs the administration about the problem he has, the faster the problem will be settled and the money, if it was unlawfully withdrawn, returned. In addition, if the withdrawal of money is not related to an error in the payment system, but to the fact that the payment details of the financial instrument fell into the hands of fraudsters, then the integrity of the money in the account depends on the speed of contact with the bank operator. In the telephone mode, you can block access to the account and thereby deprive fraudsters of the chance to use the money.

If a write-off has occurred, after blocking the account, go to the bank that serves the account and write an application for the return of money. When money was withdrawn from a store or restaurant by mistake, then after a while they will be returned to the payers account. In the case of fraudsters, it will be more difficult to return your own, since here you still need to prove that the payments were not made by the account holder. The speed of settlement of the latter depends on whether the money will be returned to the owner of the payment instrument or not.

The payment system is not responsible for the quality of storage of confidential data by the owner of the card or virtual account, and if he did not take this very seriously, used unprotected sites, then the blame falls on the careless user. Careful adherence to simple security rules, which are not uncommon for users to ignore, guarantees the protection of transactions.

Payment systems return money to the owners of financial instruments only if a failure or system error occurred due to their fault, in other cases it is more difficult to prove your case. Therefore, when making payments on the Internet, ATMs or terminals, you must always be careful.