Ongoing Rogers outage to blame for debit outage as well: Interac

The situation affects debit at checkouts and e-Transfers at ‘most’ Canadian banks, says the interbank transfer company

Interac, the Canadian company that powers the country’s interbank debit system, says the ongoing Rogers internet and wireless outage has taken its debit system offline. 

As those who have visited a retail outlet today will know, Interac says debit is unavailable both at checkouts and online, leaving shoppers to pay with cash or credit cards. Meanwhile, Interac’s e-Transfer service is also down “at most financial institutions.”

“We are waiting for updates from Rogers on their resolution,” says Interac, in a Tweet today.

There is still no estimate as to when Rogers will fix the issue that has cut off internet access for both its wireless and home internet customers across the country and has prompted multiple police services to issue notices warning that 9-1-1 services may also be affected. 

Rogers says it is working on the issue. 

“Our technical teams are working hard to restore services as quickly as possible,” said Rogers spokesperson Zac Carreiro, in an email to Canadian Press.

“On behalf of all of us at Rogers, we sincerely apologize to our customers, and we will continue to keep you updated as we have more information to share, including when we expect service to be back up. Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this issue.”

– with files from Canadian Press