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‘Keep cash on hand’: UAE residents learn lesson as tech outage halts card payments

Those who were out shopping, refilling their tanks or paying bills couldn't do so because various sectors were disrupted by the technical outage

Published: Sat 20 Jul 2024, 6:00 AM

Updated: Sat 20 Jul 2024, 10:42 PM

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The massive tech crash that swept the world on Friday was a wake-up call not only for governments and businesses, but everyone else. Always keep some cash on hand, UAE residents have learnt.

Several residents — who were used to the convenience of paying by card anywhere and everywhere in the UAE — suddenly had to scramble for cash as shops put up an uncommon sign: "Cash only".

Pakistani expat Nida Huq was driving her son to summer camp when she noticed that she noticed she needed to tank up her car.

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"I usually get a full tank which costs about Dh210. But the moment I saw the board saying 'only cash', I hurriedly told the attendant to stop petrol pump," she told Khaleej Times.

"They had already put in some Dh88 worth of fuel. I checked my bag for cash and found only Dh70," said Huq, who lives in Dubai's Abu Hail area.

"I requested the attendant to allow me to leave, assuring that I will be back soon and pay the balance. Thankfully, he agreed. I was able to come back with the rest of the payment after an hour."

Mohammed AbuHamid, a marketing executive, felt "embarrassed" when he and his friends ate out and had to leave without paying the bill.

“My colleagues and I go to a particular restaurant in Al Nahda for lunch after our Friday prayers. We normally use our debit and credit cards for any sort of payments,” said AbuHamid.

“After a nice meal, I found out the POS machines were not functioning. And some of my colleagues did not even get their wallets. All we had was Dh50 with us and the total bill was about Dh140 for eight members,” he said.

“The restaurant staff knew us and we had to leave without paying the bill initially. We returned in the evening to settle it. It was embarrassing and inconvenient,” said AbuHamid.

Awais Toor, a resident of Al Nahda in Sharjah and an engineer, was also caught off guard when he went shopping on Friday morning.

On the counter, he tapped his debit card and the payment was declined. “I tapped the card thrice, but the payment was declined. I was furious [because I thought] my account was hacked and opened my banking app and learned that all was well,” said Toor.

When he requested the grocer to try once more with the card of another bank, it still did not work. “I had to go to the ATM and withdraw cash to pay to the grocer. Thankfully, the ATM was working. On my way back from the ATM, I read the news about the technical defect in the CrowdStrike software update,” said Toor.

“It was a frustrating experience that made me realise the importance of carrying some cash for emergencies,” he added.

Huq also learnt that, sometimes, it's the traditional methods that are the most reliable.

"This experience made me realise that sometimes we need to stick to our roots and not just follow the trend,” she said.

Some residents in Abu Dhabi were also surprised when grocery staff only asked for cash as POS machines were not working.

“I had no knowledge that there was a global IT outage. Luckily I had some cash to pay for the grocery,” said Iranian expat Saeed Ahmed, who shopped from a coop store.

Some were not really used to carrying cash like Jordanian sales executive Firas Muhammad who had to leave the shopping basket and go to the nearest ATM to withdraw money. “I really hope this IT outage will not happen. It was very inconvenient,” he added.

Anas Awad, a shopkeeper, added: “Since midday yesterday (Friday) until late afternoon, it was difficult to manage our customers as the POS machine wasn’t working. Luckily, it was fixed by evening, and thankfully, our customers cooperated and paid in cash.”

(with inputs from Ashwani Kumar)

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