10 June 2025

Conducted by FreedomPay and Dynatrace in collaboration with Retail Economics, the study underscores the rising frequency and severity of disruptions that directly affect daily operations, customer satisfaction, and revenue.

The research finds that these outages are not isolated incidents but recurring challenges, with UK businesses experiencing more than five major outages each year. Notably, 61% of these disruptions occur during peak trading times, intensifying their financial and reputational impact. Alarmingly, one in five businesses lack a secure digital backup system, leaving them vulnerable to significant revenue loss during system failures.

Most customers tolerate only up to 6 minutes of payment disruption, with 22 minutes being the absolute maximum before frustration sets in. However, the average outage lasts 84 minutes, far exceeding customer patience, leading to immediate attrition and damage to brand trust. If a payment system is down between 7 and 11 minutes, businesses could lose approximately £73 million per minute, translating to over £1.17 billion in total losses after 22 minutes — accounting for 74% of all revenue at risk during outages. Less than 30% of consumers carry cash regularly, with an average cash amount of £35 compared to an average in-store spend of £47, emphasizing reliance on digital payments. Higher-income consumers, who frequent physical venues and rely more on digital payments, are disproportionately affected by outages. Despite the reliance on digital payments, 22% of businesses have no backup payment method besides cash, and 7% lack any fallback option altogether, heightening vulnerability to disruptions.

“Consumer-facing businesses are operating in increasingly unpredictable conditions. The lack of planning and fragile infrastructure create a perfect storm for revenue loss and reputational damage,” said Chris Kronenthal, President of FreedomPay.