Dutch retailers lost millions of euros on Thursday evening as the nation’s automated payments system PIN went down for 90 minutes.

The situation was made worse because Thursday is the evening shops are open until late in many Dutch cities, public broadcaster NOS reported on Friday.

About 10 million PIN transactions take place every day, according to Michel van Bommel of retailers lobby group Detailhandel Nederland.

And because ATMs are often out of action, this meant that many shoppers were unable to pay on Thursday evening. ‘Shopping trolleys were left standing in supermarkets,’ Van Bommel said. ‘It was more difficult at petrol stations as the fuel had already been pumped.’

Carry cash

Payments consultant Simon Lelieveldt, who found himself unable to pay a garage bill, said the Dutch payments system is stable. ‘Our payments system works 99.95% of the time,’ he told the NOS. ‘It’s in line with the rest of Europe.’

Lelieveldt solved his garage bill problem by going home and making the payment on the internet.

Van Bommel urged shoppers to carry a bit of cash at all times. ‘Cash remains an alternative means of payment,’ he said.