http://www.wmur.com/money/20065263/detail.html

Visa Blames Programming Error For Quadrillion-Dollar Mistake


POSTED: 5:22 pm EDT July 15, 2009


MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Visa said Wednesday that a "temporary programming error" caused to a Manchester man and thousands of others across the country to be charged quadrillions of dollars for small purchases.

Josh Muszynski just wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes at a Mobil gas station, so he was shocked to see a charge on his bank statement of more than $23 quadrillion.

"I thought my card had been compromised," Muszynski said. "I thought somebody had bought Europe with my credit card. It was very concerning."

Because Muszynski didn't have that much in his account -- no one does, as it's hundreds of times the gross domestic product of the world -- he was even charged an overdraft fee. The charge and fee have since been removed, but Muszynski took evidence of the astronomical number to the manager of the Mobil.

"The gentleman it happened to came in with his laptop and showed me that number, and I couldn't believe it," said manager Debbie Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said she sells cigarettes for only $5 and change.

Customer Mike Johnson was so stunned when Muszynski showed the amount that he paid for his gas and then forgot to actually pump it. He returned soon after.

"Yeah, it scared me that much," Johnson said. "You guys threw me way off."

The amount is difficult for people to grasp. It's more than 2,000 times bigger than the national debt. For $23 quadrillion, someone could buy the Mobil station 33 billion times. If it's sports and entertainment you're after, you could buy 420 million Verizon Wireless Arenas.

And if your dream is to buy every building in the city of Manchester, you could do it 2 million times for that amount of cash.

Muszynski said if he had that much cash, he'd start by bailing out General Motors.

Although Muszynski originally described the affected card as a debit card, Visa said debit cards weren't affected. He was technically using a cash pay card, which was affected by the glitch, along with prepaid cards.

Visa said the incident will have no financial impact on cardholders' finances or credit. The company said it regretted the inconvenience to customers and has taken steps to ensure it doesn't happen again. It also noted that the Mobil gas station isn't responsible in any way for the error.