Technical outage halts salary distribution at Iraq electronic payment outlets

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Electronic payment outlets across Iraq stopped operating on Tuesday evening because of a technical outage, suspending salary withdrawals for civil servants, pensioners and social welfare beneficiaries, a government source said. The source said the breakdown occurred while civil service salary distribution was already underway, disrupting withdrawals and payment transactions at every outlet in the network. Technical teams began working to identify the cause of the failure and restore service as quickly as possible, the source added. Crowds gathered outside distribution points as people waited for the system to come back online, with payments only resuming once service is restored. The cause of the outage and the timeline for full restoration had not been disclosed. Neither authorities nor the electronic payment companies had issued an official statement explaining the breakdown or its expected duration as of the time of reporting.