Eftpos outage hits retailers in busy lunchtime rush across North Island

Shoppers at Kaitaia Pak'nSave head for the ATM after Eftpos machines went down across the North Island at lunchtime. Photo / Supplied

Shoppers were left queuing at money machines to pay for goods after the Eftpos system crashed across parts of the North Island at lunchtime today.

Electronic transaction company Paymark reported a 10-minute outage that left electronic machines unable to process payments at checkouts.

Company spokesman Paul Brislen said while he was still finding out details of the fault, the widespread outage had been resolved.

However, social media is filled with reports of shoppers queuing at ATM machines outside Pak'nSave stores in both Kaitaia and Palmerston North after checkouts stopped working.

Shoppers caught out by the unexpected breakdown warned others to take cash if they wanted to buy anything.

"Just a heads up, if you are going to Pak'nSave take cash. The Eftpos is down and lines are crazy for money machine," wrote Nicole May on the Palmerston North Community Facebook page.

There were also reports of cafes in central Auckland unable to process payments.

Brislen said if there were still problems it was likely shopkeepers needed to reboot their machines.

Shopkeepers could also make offline transactions using the terminals.