46% of UK Shoppers Experience Payment Failures at Checkout, TNS Research Finds

Recent data highlights a growing reliability gap in UK retail payments as TNS showcases TNSLink for Retail at Retail Technology Show

Transaction Network Services (TNS), a global leader in managed network and payment solutions, has revealed that nearly half (46%) of UK consumers have experienced a payment failure at checkout in the past 12 months. The findings highlight a growing reliability gap in retail payments that may cost retailers revenue and impact customer experience.

The research, based on a survey of 3,000 consumers across the UK, US and Australia, highlights consumer demand for resilient payment methods in contrast to the fragmented infrastructure and inconsistent connectivity that leads to failures. As retailers prepare for the Retail Technology Show, the findings underline the need to improve payment connectivity performance in increasingly complex environments.

"These figures should be a wake-up call for UK retailers," said Matthew Thomas, Managing Director - UK and Ireland, TNS Payments Market. "Payment failure is not a fact of life. It is a symptom of fragmented infrastructure. When connectivity is fully managed, staff, customers, business applications and payment devices all stay online and stay secure. Retailers can reduce failures, protect revenue and build trust at checkout."

The more retailers grow with self-managed patchwork networking solutions, while bringing more IoT devices into their stores, risks of outages and threats increase. Many payment failures often originate in the underlying network rather than the payment application itself. When connectivity drops at the point of sale (POS), whether at a staffed checkout, self-service kiosk or unattended terminal, transactions cannot be completed. This can result in abandoned purchases, lost revenue and reputational damage for the brand.

At the Retail Technology Show, ExCeL London, April 22-23, TNS will showcase TNSLink for Retail, its fully managed connectivity solution that is designed to transform how retailers manage connectivity across distributed estates. Engineered to safeguard resilience against the risk of outages and threats, it provides secure, resilient, and scalable networking for in-store systems, including POS, kiosks, IoT devices and digital signage. The solution helps eliminate the complexity of managing multiple vendors, circuits, and security protocols, streamlining operations while ensuring compliance with PCI DSS.

One of the UK's largest regional retailers, operating more than 200 sites, found that as digital transformation accelerated, its existing network could no longer deliver the reliability or visibility required to support modern retail operations. Legacy connectivity caused additional challenges, disrupting transactions and causing point-of-sale downtime. Back-ups were unreliable and led to a loss of confidence at both the location and centrally.

It teamed up with TNS to deploy a fully managed, scalable and secure network infrastructure. It now benefits from uninterrupted connectivity, streamlined operations and stronger security across its retail estate. Failover reduced from 90 seconds to instantaneous and the result is a trusted connectivity platform that simplifies operations, strengthens resilience and provides the foundation for continued digital growth.

"Retailers' priority must shift to ensuring their infrastructure is able to withstand the pressures that today's commerce environment demands, whether that's ensuring continuous uptime, reducing complexity or providing maximum security," added Thomas. "At the Retail Technology Show, we are demonstrating how resilient connectivity keeps transactions flowing and how platforms are evolving to support emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)-initiated payments."

For more information, visit TNS at Stand X62 at the Retail Technology Show, ExCeL London, April 22-23, 2026, or visit: tnsi.com/solutions/payments/connect/retail-site-connectivity/.