Theatre 'put at risk' over payment service 'error'

Lighthouse Poole lost access to its payment service on 7 November

A theatre said it faced "substantial risk" to its business after it was unable to accept payments from its customers.

Lighthouse Poole lost access to its payment service on 7 November, after it said its provider, Worldpay, unexpectedly switched it off.

Chief executive Elspeth McBain said the team at the registered arts centre and charity was able to set up a temporary payment facility that allowed it to continue selling tickets, but the WorldPay account remained off until Monday.

World Pay said it did not comment on individual cases but its policy was to provide notices to customers in advance of changes to accounts.

The venue is a multi-arts venue and home to Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

“This dreadful mistake meant that in the middle of a busy period, Lighthouse was unable to trade, presenting a substantial risk to our business,” Ms McBain said.

She refuted claims by Worldpay that it had been informed ahead of the changes.

"I cannot understand how Worldpay was able to cut off a charity from its income with no warning, explanation or information on how it might reactivate its account," she said.

She said Worldpay could not advise how long it would take for the service to be restored after the account was deactivated.

She added: “This happened through no fault of ours, during a routine review."

'Works diligently'

In a statement a Worldpay spokesperson said: "As a policy, we do not provide comment on individual customers.

"In line with industry-wide regulatory requirements for all financial services firms to protect our customers, we are required to periodically update customer information.

"We take our regulatory obligations seriously and provide notices to our customers in advance to let them know when information is needed to help avoid disruptions to their services.

"We work diligently to engage with our customers to meet these requirements and avoid disruptions, often including multiple notices and attempts to contact them."