Moscow shoppers and travellers hit by payment system problem

MOSCOW, April 3 (Reuters) - A problem with payment systems sowed chaos on Friday for some Russian shoppers, forcing the turnstiles on the Moscow metro to allow people to enter without payment and even forcing a regional zoo to ask visitors to use cash.

The cause of the payment system problem was not immediately clear but shoppers and retailers said that they experienced problems with Sberbank, the country's biggest bank, and with payments with QR codes.

The central bank did not reply to a request for comment. Sberbank said problems had been resolved but gave no details on what caused the problems.

Shops and petrol stations asked customers for cash for about an hour on Friday, citing a problem with payment systems, Reuters reporters said.

The Moscow metro turnstiles let people enter for free at one point, TASS reported. A zoo in Belgorod said card payment systems were down, and asked visitors to pay cash.

Moscow and the surrounding region has a population of 22 million people.