Nets has identified a “rare component failure” within its infrastructure, managed by a global partner, as the cause of the breakdown that severely disrupted card payments on Saturday. The company addressed the incident in a press release on Thursday, acknowledging the widespread impact and criticism received.

The system failure, which lasted approximately three hours, prevented motorists from using the Great Belt Bridge and disrupted payments at events like the Musik i Lejet music festival and Grøn Koncert concerts. Businesses and customers expressed concerns about the lack of timely and adequate communication from Nets during the outage.

According to Allan Bonke, country manager for Nets, a backup system should have automatically taken over upon detecting the fault, but this did not occur due to the error’s complexity. Bonke assured that the company has analyzed the situation and implemented measures to prevent a recurrence.

Nets acknowledges the criticism regarding its communication during the incident and plans to review its processes to improve responsiveness and public communication in the future. The company is in contact with affected customers and takes their concerns seriously.

Sund & Bælt, responsible for the Great Belt Bridge operation, welcomed Nets’ commitment to improving communication procedures. They expressed hope for better contact opportunities in future incidents.

Bonke commended businesses that were able to switch to offline payment systems during the outage. Nets plans to improve customer education on utilizing offline payment options and is rolling out a new offline function that will include international cards and mobile payments. The initial rollout will focus on supermarkets and pharmacies, followed by other stores.

Following the incident, the Ministry of Industry requested an explanation from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority regarding the cause of the breakdown and Nets’ contingency plans. Nets, now part of the Italian payment group Nexi, holds a significant market share in Denmark’s card payment acquiring sector.