Credit Cards Overbilled

Good thing I used cash this weekend…
April 5, 2004 (AP)
A computer hardware problem caused more than 800,000 credit and debit card transactions to be double- or triple-billed last week at stores nationwide, including many at Wal-Mart. The excess Visa and MasterCard charges, which occurred on Wednesday and were posted on Thursday, have been reversed, a spokeswoman for First Data, Staci Busby, said yesterday.
First Data processes payments for retailers, moving money from consumers’ accounts to merchants’ bank accounts. Ms. Busby said the problem showed up on reports that the company generates for quality control purposes. She said it was unclear how many customers were affected, although several other retailers besides Wal-Mart were involved.