ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
After four days of problems, MARTA Breeze card machines finally began accepting credit cards Tuesday, but as of Wednesday, debit cards were still being rejected.
The problem popped up over the busy Labor Day weekend, keeping riders from being able to use plastic to load credit onto their Breeze passes.
MARTA rider Darron Cooper learned about the problem the hard way late last week.
"I scrambled and found some loose change, just enough to get me through and figure out what I needed to do when it was time to go back," said Cooper.
MARTA officials released the following message about the problems on its website late Tuesday:
"Early indications suggest it may have stemmed from a conflict with software that was installed as part of a new Payment Card Industry Standard (PCI). PCI is a requirement in order to be compliant with major credit and debit card company mandates to maintain a secure environment for the protection of customer information."
On Tuesday, MARTA announced that the machines were accepting credit cards but that it's still working on fixing the system for debit cards that require a personal identification number (PIN).
"It's kind of become the way for people who can't get credit cards," rider Dracy Blackwell said of people who use debit cards. "So what are these people supposed to do?"
Some riders said four days was too long for the transit agency to go without credit or debit payment options.
"Any business I know that couldn't rectify problem like that in at least 24 hours wouldn't be in business very long," said rider Tony Harper. "In my mind, it shows real incompetent leadership."
MARTA officials said they hope to have the debit card option fixed soon.
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