Many shops and services in downtown Renfrew will be going cash only this evening, after debit and credit sales locally and elsewhere went down early Friday morning.
The problems started around the same time as a nationwide internet outage affected Rogers customers.
The outage has hit a wide variety of stores across the main drag, as restaurants like KFC, Subway, and Karras’ Way have posted signage or are telling customers at point of sale that their card machines are non-functional.
The same can be said of gas stations in the area: The Circle-K Shell, Esso, and MacEwan gas stations have all told customers that it’s cash only until issues are resolved.
Pharmacies like Rexall and Aikenhead’s Drug Store have also been hit by the problem, making last minute prescriptions and shopping this evening cash only for them as well.
Some larger stores like Metro, Walmart and Giant Tiger have some credit functionality, but are still experiencing issues with debit transactions.
There’s no confirmed connection between the Rogers internet outage and debit and credit sales going offline outside of them both occurring around the same time this morning.
For their part, Rogers has put out a statement on their website and through social media saying that they are aware of the ongoing outages and are working to fix them as fast as possible.
(written by Kasey Egan)
