By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-15 08:37:05 | Updated at 2026-08-15 08:59:02
38 minutes ago
SYDNEY – Some Mastercard card payments were declined for Australian customers in the afternoon of Aug 15 because of a global issue, Commonwealth Bank of Australia said.
“Mastercard card payments are being restored following a global Mastercard issue,” Commonwealth said in a statement. All other CommBank services, including ATMs, remained available, it said.
Downdetector – a site through which users can report outages with their service – had more than 1,900 reports by 3.27pm in Sydney. The biggest issues reported by customers included transferring funds and mobile banking.
The ABC network said people across several Australian states had reached out to tell it about payment issues. Problems with Apple payments, Mastercard travel cards and cash withdrawals from ATMs were also reported, it said.
For businesses heading into the busy Saturday evening trade, the disruption threatened to hit takings.
“Today, cash is king,” said Asha Thompson, a bar manager at Kent St Bar in Melbourne’s Collingwood neighbourhood. “We’ve got a whole night to get through and it’s the biggest night of the week. It could be 40 per cent of our takings.”
Mastercard did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of normal business hours in Australia. BLOOMBERG
