One affected user told CNA that he failed repeatedly to use his YouTrip card to purchase a Japanese high-speed train ticket on Tuesday afternoon.
“I re-tried several times … but each attempt failed,” said Raymond, who asked to be known by his first name only for privacy reasons.
“There was no successful confirmation on the merchant’s end, so I eventually decided to use another card, which worked immediately.”
He discovered on Wednesday that the failed transactions were reflected in his YouTrip account, bringing his yen balance to a negative amount.
Screenshots he shared with CNA showed he was charged seven times, with the same amount directed to the same merchant for each transaction. The total charge amounted to about S$1,600 (US$1,200).
Some other users expressed their frustration in the comment section of YouTrip’s latest Facebook post, with more than 20 commenters complaining that their cards had not worked on Tuesday.
“I’m in Japan and YouTrip is not working. All my money is in the card. Help!” said one commenter.
“I will cancel my YouTrip card because of this incident,” wrote another user, who added that they were left embarrassed at a Japanese ramen stall due to the issue.
Many of the comments also said they were later charged for the unsuccessful transactions.
YouTrip said it was working to ensure that all affected transactions were reversed, with the affected amounts credited back to users’ YouTrip wallets at “the earliest possible time”.
“We want to assure our community that all funds are safe,” said YouTrip.
“Our customer service team will provide users with an update once this process is completed for their individual accounts.”
It told CNA that users with any queries could reach out to its customer service team for support.
Raymond said he was fortunate to still be in Singapore when his card failed, which made dealing with the problem much easier.
“If I were stuck overseas like many others, the experience would have been far worse,” he said.
“Seeing a negative balance is definitely a bad experience,” Raymond said. “It’s a good idea for others to have backup cards when travelling abroad.”