SCARBOROUGH – A computer glitch at Hannaford Supermarkets that prevented customers from making electronic payments at many of the chain’s cash registers Thursday has been fixed, according to the company.

Eric Blom, a spokesman for Hannaford, said its software support vendor completed its work Thursday night, and stores were able to accept debit, credit and EBT cards by about 10 p.m.

“We don’t anticipate further problems. There could be brief periods, in very localized areas, where customers might experience delays, but that will be dealt with today,” Blom said Friday.

One such problem occurred Friday morning at the Hannaford store on Forest Avenue in Portland, Blom said.

The glitch began Thursday morning and affected nearly all 181 Hannaford stores in five Northeast states. Some registers would not accept any cards, while others would accept cards only as credit.

Blom wouldn’t say how much the chain may have lost in revenue because of the problem.

In 2008, Hannaford had a data breach that compromised 4.2 million customer credit and debit card numbers. Blom said Thursday’s event was not a security issue.

Blom wouldn’t disclose the name of Hannaford’s software vendor or any details about the problem or its resolution.

Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Ben McCanna can be contacted at 861-9239 or at:

bmccanna@centralmaine.com