Millennium bug strikes early

Some restaurants and hotels have been hit by early millennium bug problems after card swipe machines refused to process credit and debit card transactions.

A spokeswoman for HSBC bank, which has issued thousands of the machines to shops, restaurants and other businesses, said the problems were the result of a piece of computer software in the card swipe terminals failing to recognise 1 January 2000.

"Some of our retailers are experiencing problems processing cards," she said. "But the problem is exceptionally minor and very easily fixed." All businesses needed to do was press a series of keys on their terminals.

The machines started causing problems yesterday (28 January 1999) because the software works in four-day cycles.

A spokesman for Racal, which makes the machines, said the problem was "a short-term technical glitch" affecting only a small percentage of businesses and would disappear on 1 January. He apologised for any inconvenience caused.

Caterer contacted several individual restaurants and chains, including Beefeater, Belgo and City Centre Restaurants, but none had experienced problems processing cards.