BridgePay ransomware attack triggers nationwide card processing outage

A ransomware attack forced BridgePay Network Solutions, a U.S. payment gateway and solutions provider, to take key systems offline beginning Friday, causing a nationwide outage that disrupted card processing and related services for merchants and public-sector customers across the country.

The incident escalated rapidly after early signs of degraded performance appeared around 3:29 a.m., initially affecting virtual terminal, reporting and application programming interface systems. The service degradation spread across the platform and culminated in a full outage of core production systems within hours.

BridgePay confirmed late Friday that the disruption was caused by ransomware and said it activated its incident response plan. The company engaged federal law enforcement, including the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, as well as external forensic and recovery teams. An update issued Feb. 6 stated that initial forensic findings showed no compromise of payment card data, noting that any accessed files were encrypted and that there was no evidence of usable data exposure at that time.

The outage affected multiple BridgePay services, including its Gateway API, PayGuardian Cloud API, MyBridgePay virtual terminal and reporting tools, hosted payment pages, and PathwayLink gateway and boarding portals. The scope of the disruption created immediate downstream impacts for merchants and organizations that rely on the platform for card transactions.

As BridgePay disclosed the incident, merchants across the United States began notifying customers that card payments were unavailable, with some shifting to cash-only transactions. One restaurant cited a cybersecurity breach at its credit card processing provider as the reason for the nationwide interruption.

Local governments also reported service impacts. The City of Palm Bay, Florida, said its third-party credit card processing vendor was experiencing a nationwide disruption, rendering the city’s online billing payment portal unavailable without an estimated restoration time. The city advised residents to make utility payments in person by cash, card or check, or by phone in limited circumstances.

Other organizations, including Lightspeed Commerce, ThriftTrac and the City of Frisco, Texas, acknowledged service disruptions tied to the BridgePay outage.

BridgePay said system recovery could take time and emphasized that restoration efforts are being conducted in a secure and responsible manner while the forensic investigation continues. The incident underscores the vulnerability of payment infrastructure to ransomware attacks, where system outages can quickly cascade into widespread disruptions of everyday commerce.