A Processing Glitch Affects Debit Payments at Winn-Dixie

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. is investigating a network glitch that caused “duplicate postings” Tuesday of debit card transactions secured by personal identification numbers at its stores, according to company representatives. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based supermarket chain, which operates 1,070 stores across 12 states in the Southeast, says the problem occurred from late morning until evening but has been resolved. A Winn-Dixie spokesperson adds that most affected customer accounts should be reconciled by tonight, with the remainder being taken care of by Tuesday, after the Memorial Day bank holiday. The company is reluctant to release further details–such as the processors involved, how the problem occurred, and how many transactions and accounts were affected–until it completes its investigation, the spokesperson says. Winn-Dixie, which accepts Star, Pulse, NYCE, and Interlink PIN debit cards, works with “several” third-party processors to handle transactions, she says. “We're still looking into how it happened,” says spokesperson Kathy Lussier. “We don't know yet who is to blame.” She says, however, that indications are that the issue lies with one or more third-party processors rather than with the card networks. Winn-Dixie on Wednesday released a statement and posted signs in all of its stores advising customers of the problem. “An apparent communications problem with a debit network may have resulted in some customers being charged incorrectly for their purchases,” says the press statement. “In most cases, the debit network should automatically reverse the incorrect charges in the next 24-36 hours.” The statement goes on to encourage customers to double-check their bank statements, promises to “reimburse all fees incurred because of this problem,” and apologizes for the “inconvenience” it caused. The statement also gives a toll-free customer-service number for customers to use if they have questions or concerns. This incident is the second of its kind to occur this month and the third in the past two months. Last week, Publix Super Markets Inc., an 816-store chain based in Lakeland, Fla., announced that “some” credit and signature-based debit transactions occurring on May 12 had been double-posted to customer accounts on May 13. Publix says it detected the problem and processed reversals by the end of the next day. Some 800,000 credit and debit card transactions early in April were double- and triple-posted at stores in the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. chain. First Data Corp., Wal-Mart's processor, detected the snafu and corrected it, but not before it had attracted widespread publicity.