Some debit card users were experiencing payment issues Friday, according to third-party website Downdetector.ca.
As of 6 p.m. EDT, 1,562 users had reported outages through Downdetector.ca, with 78 per cent claiming issues with purchases.
The issue, according to the outage report, appears to have begun shortly before 4 p.m. EDT.
On X, Interac acknowledged that some users were experiencing debit-related issues.
“We understand some customers are unable to pay with debit at select merchants,” the statement read. “Interac services are operating normally.”
It is unclear what is behind the sudden spike in outages. Interac said it was not an issue related to its systems.
At the height of the issue, several stores in Canada warned customers that they would have to pay in cash.
In addition to Interac, Downdetector.ca showed user-filed outage reports for several bank-related services Friday, including Visa, CIBC, Tangerine, TD, RBC, Mastercard and Scotiabank.
It is unclear whether there is any connection between the issues.