J Sainsbury, the supermarket chain, was on Wednesday racing to resolve an issue with the card payments giant Visa which was impacting customers’ ability to pay for their online grocery orders.
Sky News understands that Sainsbury’s is working with Visa to address the issue after a number of shoppers reported that their card payments had failed.
The retailer ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack and said its website and app were functioning normally, with no direct impact on customers.
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The issue nevertheless illustrates the extent to which the industry is on high alert for cybersecurity-related incidents after a spate of attacks which have raised concerns about the sector’s resilience.
In recent months, major British retailers including Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods have been the victim of cyberattacks, with the impact on M&S particularly acute.
M&S has said the attack on its systems would cost it at least £300m and forced it to suspend online orders for months.
The Co-op saw in-store availability of thousands of products disrupted for several weeks.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said, “We’re working with one of our payment providers to resolve a temporary issue processing some payments for our Groceries Online service.
“We continue to deliver orders for customers and our website and app are working as normal.”
Visa has been contacted for comment.
