If you want to pay by card at the supermarket checkout or petrol station, you often have to switch to cash. Due to software problems with some payment terminals, payments with giro, debit and credit cards have not been possible in many shops since Tuesday morning.

According to information from the payment and transaction service provider Payone, the disruption is limited to a specific terminal model: “Due to a Germany-wide software disruption, all network operators are currently having significant restrictions on the use of H5000 terminals from the manufacturer Verifone.”

Other devices are currently not affected, and a network disruption can also be ruled out. Merchants are advised not to unplug the terminals from power or network, or to restart them on their own.

The disruption affects supermarket and drugstore chains such as Netto, Rewe, Kaufland, Rossmann and dm. There are also problems at gas stations. The consumer retail chain reports on Facebook: “Attention, an important note for you! Due to a Germany-wide disruption, no card payment is currently possible in our stores.” ATMs are not affected by the problem, customers can withdraw cash as usual.

According to information from the Federal Association of German Banks, there are around 970,000 cash register terminals nationwide, reported the news website “Heise online”. However, the software faults would be limited to a small proportion.

It is still unclear when the disruption can be rectified. Many supermarkets and gas stations are now putting up signs warning of the problem. For the time being, it is therefore advisable to have enough cash with you when shopping and filling up.

Reports about the payment problem increased on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Alle disturbances.de portal. There were also complaints on Twitter. “When you’re on the highway and can’t pay with a debit card and don’t happen to have cash with you, it gets really interesting,” wrote one user. Another user was annoyed when buying plants: “The day doesn’t get better. You make up your mind to drive to the plant market, stand at the checkout with two trolleys and then… no card payment possible, ”he tweeted.