Rogers outage hit local businesses and emergency services

The outage spread across services for cell phones, TV, and internet, with a big impact on the Interac payment system.

It started as early as 4 a.m. Friday: reports of outages from Rogers Mobility customers began pouring in from across the country.

The outage spread across services for cell phones, TV, and internet, with a big impact on the Interac payment system.

“We are so connected with all of the technology and all of the pieces from online orders right through to curbside pickup” says James Chambers, general manager of Chez Angela Bakery and Café in Brandon. “So even when part of the system fails like the Interac network, there’s always an immediate impact and then it smooths out throughout the day.”

The need to rely solely on credit cards through outages such as this has an effect on the business’ bottom line.

“Instead of paying 5 or 10 cents a tap, we’re paying 3.5 percent of the transaction,” Chambers says. “So for a small business, especially in these times, those kind of things are hard to swallow.”

Chambers says he appreciates the caring and supportive community for their understanding when it comes to these kinds of issues.

“This is the east stuff to get over, certainly compared to closures, mandates, shut downs, things like that,” he says. “This one’s a smaller one and we’re gonna get through it.”