Waitrose's card system crashes

The chip-and-pin card payment system at supermarket chain Waitrose has crashed ahead of the grocer's busiest weeks of the year. The 173-strong chain, part of the John Lewis Partnership, has been forced to revert to asking shoppers to sign for their purchases. However, after a change in the law which became effective at the turn of this year, that will leave the grocer liable for any fraudulent transactions.

A spokeswoman for Waitrose said last night that the payment system was suspended after problems first with the card-reading units and then with the software.

"We did not want to inconvenience customers," she said. "We are working to get it fixed as quickly as possible." It was unclear how long it would take to fix.

Waitrose's chip-and-pin system is an interim measure put in place ahead of a new integrated point-of-sale system to be installed over 18 months starting in the spring. From February it will no longer be possible for shoppers to sign for purchases and retailers will have to be able to accept chip-and-pin for card payments.

The collapse of the Waitrose system is revealed in this week's Computing magazine. It reports that card reader supplier Ingenico and software group Wincor Nixdorf have been called in to reinstate the system as soon as possible.

Nick Gladding, senior analyst at retail researcher Verdict, told the magazine: "The longer it leaves it, the more Waitrose exposes itself to covering the cost of any fraud now that this has become the liability of retailers."