Kanoo addresses health visa payment system disruption

Kanoo addresses health visa payment system disruption
Kanoo Pays logo.

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Local digital payments provider Kanoo has issued a statement apologizing for the service disruptions that prevented travelers from paying for a mandatory health visa over the weekend, and seeking to assure consumers that the issue has been resolved.

“On Saturday, December 12, 2020, Kanoo experienced some technical difficulties with our primary database server, which resulted in the interruption of transaction services for an extended period,” the statement read.

“This technical difficulty caused the degradation of services across Kanoo’s related servers and initiated our internal safety protocols that limit access or activity across our systems. This feature is designed to protect our systems from any irregularities until the issue can be resolved while maintaining data integrity.

“Our team has addressed the issue, and our system has been fully restored and remains operational. We are conducting a thorough analysis and review to ensure that this issue will not occur in the future.”

Travelers entering the country and needing to secure the mandatory health visa were left frustrated over the weekend after a system “reboot” disrupted the connection between the health visa site and payment portal.

Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar on Sunday told Eyewitness News that between 3am and 9pm on Saturday, travelers were able to apply for a health visa but not pay for one.

Kanoo, which operates that payment portal, addressed this in its statement, saying: “We apologize to all the affected persons, particularly the many Bahamians coming home and visitors traveling to The Bahamas, regarding the processing of payments for travel health visas and the anxiety this may have added to their travel.

“We are proud to report that every traveler impacted has either already been or will be contacted by our Operations and Customer Support Departments, with all issues being successfully addressed and resolved for their original travel date.

“As a Bahamian fintech company, we remain a solutions-oriented service provider who will always put our customers first. We wish you all happy holidays and safe travels.”