Apple Pay Unavailable?

[jnappleseed]

I did a clean install of iOS 16 and reinstalled my backup to my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Since then, I have been unable to set up my cards in Apple Pay. I get the message , “Could not connect to Apple Pay. Apple Pay is temporarily unavailable.” I get the message on wifi and using data, and with all my cards. Has anyone run into this or know of a fix?

Ps. I am able to add cards to Apple Pay on my watch with no problem

 

[0128672]

The Apple system status shows everything is normal, so waiting it out and trying in another hour or so might do the trick.

 

[Psychbum]

Are you still getting this issue? I am having the same issue, can add on MacBook, iPad and watch. I have no idea what has changed.

 

[0128672]

Are you still getting this issue? I am having the same issue, can add on MacBook, iPad and watch. I have no idea what has changed.

And you have Software Updates > Automatic updates enabled, yes? Apple Pay requires that to be enabled.

 

[Psychbum]

And you have Software Updates > Automatic updates enabled, yes? Apple Pay requires that to be enabled.

Yes that is activated

 

[spikeymike]

And you have Software Updates > Automatic updates enabled, yes? Apple Pay requires that to be enabled.

Not sure where you got that? Automatic Software Updates does not need to be enabled to set up Apple Pay. I've added cards without having automatic Software Updates enabled, so it is not required.

Not even Apple says it needs to be enabled.

Set up Apple Pay - Apple Support

To set up Apple Pay, add a debit, credit, or prepaid card to the Wallet app on your iPhone, Apple Watch, or other compatible device.

support.apple.com

 

[Psychbum]

Not sure where you got that? Automatic Software Updates does not need to be enabled to set up Apple Pay. I've added cards without having automatic Software Updates enabled, so it is not required.

Not even Apple says it needs to be enabled.

Set up Apple Pay - Apple Support

To set up Apple Pay, add a debit, credit, or prepaid card to the Wallet app on your iPhone, Apple Watch, or other compatible device.

support.apple.com

Thanks, I did think that was an odd suggestion but my desperation is real RN.

If the OP could post back I’d be interested to know the situation.

 

[0128672]

For Mac, it says it's required if you get a message about security settings. Looks like it's not true for iOS though.

If Apple Pay on your Mac is turned off because security settings were modified - Apple Support

Follow these steps if you get a message that your card is unavailable to use with Apple Pay on your Mac, or that you cannot add cards to Wallet.

support.apple.com

 

[Psychbum]

For Mac, it says it's required if you get a message about security settings:

If Apple Pay on your Mac is turned off because security settings were modified - Apple Support

Follow these steps if you get a message that your card is unavailable to use with Apple Pay on your Mac, or that you cannot add cards to Wallet.

support.apple.com

My issue is IOS/iPhone only. iPad, MacBook and Apple Watch are totally fine.

 

[spikeymike]

Ok... but Psychbum is asking about his phone, hence asking in this thread.

He even states that he can add just fine on his iPad, MacBook and Watch.

 

[0128672]

Ok... but Psychbum is asking about his phone, hence asking in this thread.

He even states that he can add just fine on his iPad, MacBook and Watch.

It was worth a shot.

 

[spikeymike]

My issue is IOS/iPhone only. iPad, MacBook and Apple Watch are totally fine.

Are you trying to add on an iPhone 14?

There was a thread where people with a 14 had issues adding cards. Not sure if that is relevant to you?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-wallet-wont-add-cards-in-iphone-14-merged.2359668/

 

[Psychbum]

Hmm seems to point at American banks and I’m trying 3 x uk banks all fail only on iOS 16

 

[Sailormannn]

I ran into problems when I did a device to device transfer to set up my 14 pro max. Kept getting rejected. Ended up adding my credit card manually to wallet which worked. It prompted me to sign in to my bank online account to authorize.

 

[Psychbum]

I have tried to manually add the card but doesn't work.

AppleCare don't have a clue either, how frustrating.

 

[Psychbum]

So Iv had to remove payment cards from all devices and toggle wallet off and on in iCloud settings.

I have now been able to add 2 of 3 cards to my iPhone by using my banking apps, 1 of them doesn’t have an app facility to add it so I keep getting the error still. Can only hope that iCloud catches up with the changes.

I totally think the fault here as with most new issues from Apple is stupid iCloud processes.

 

[spinstorm]

I have the same issue - I cannot add any cards on my iPhone 14 pro max. I restored it from a backup.

Apple did have a service issue with Apple Pay earlier today but claim it is fixed now. Any ideas?

 

[Psychbum]

I have the same issue - I cannot add any cards on my iPhone 14 pro max. I restored it from a backup.

Apple did have a service issue with Apple Pay earlier today but claim it is fixed now. Any ideas?

you need to call in and speak to Apple Pay support and ask them to escalate to engineering. There is still no fix that they could find. If you do however find an answer please share, it’s crazy.

 

[jmorko]

I found a workaround which allowed me to add my failing Chase Cards:

1. Go through the process to try to add a card - When you see the failed to add screen stop, don't dismiss the popup.
2. Lock the phone and wait at least 15 minutes (trying sooner doesn't work, don't dismiss the popup)
3. Unlock the phone
4. Tap "Try Again" (dismisses the popup) and immediately hit "Next" in the top right. This time, it will work.

I have a theory that this is some sort of rate limiting at play. There's a bug on the add card screen that causes that very first screen (the one where you pick between adding a credit card, transit card of ID) to blow through a rate limit server-side. From then on, you're doomed to fail if your card add requires one of the URLs that's been rate limited. Once you've entered all your card details though, there's no more hits on that URL that's rate limited happening in the background (which is why I think it's a bug on that first add card screen). Thus, waiting 15 minutes allows the rate limit to clear and the card add to be successful on the next submit attempt.

 

[Psychbum]

I found a workaround which allowed me to add my failing Chase Cards:

1. Go through the process to try to add a card - When you see the failed to add screen stop, don't dismiss the popup.
2. Lock the phone and wait at least 15 minutes (trying sooner doesn't work, don't dismiss the popup)
3. Unlock the phone
4. Tap "Try Again" (dismisses the popup) and immediately hit "Next" in the top right. This time, it will work.

I have a theory that this is some sort of rate limiting at play. There's a bug on the add card screen that causes that very first screen (the one where you pick between adding a credit card, transit card of ID) to blow through a rate limit server-side. From then on, you're doomed to fail if your card add requires one of the URLs that's been rate limited. Once you've entered all your card details though, there's no more hits on that URL that's rate limited happening in the background (which is why I think it's a bug on that first add card screen). Thus, waiting 15 minutes allows the rate limit to clear and the card add to be successful on the next submit attempt.

You absolute legend, just done this and it’s fixed.

If only there was a way to get this directed to Apple for a fix now that we’ve established the fix.

THANK YOU

 

[fatTribble]

Mine were failing during setup on Release Day. I tried hours later and all fine. Good luck!

 

[kindphotography]

I had this issue all day yesterday. Only way I got it to work was add the card manually. If you have two cards then add one, then restart the phone and then add the second.

This is what worked for me. And I had been trying for hours 🤦🏻‍♂️🙄

 

[dohspc]

Thank You jmorko this worked. I was going crazy trying to add a card. Apple needs to address this asap.

 

[FlyingTexan]

Not sure where you got that? Automatic Software Updates does not need to be enabled to set up Apple Pay. I've added cards without having automatic Software Updates enabled, so it is not required.

Not even Apple says it needs to be enabled.

Set up Apple Pay - Apple Support

To set up Apple Pay, add a debit, credit, or prepaid card to the Wallet app on your iPhone, Apple Watch, or other compatible device.

support.apple.com

I just wanted to say that I was having this issue after Apple replaced my iphone 13mini due to battery failure. Couldn't get anything to work so started searching and after enabling the above (I had it off) it suddenly worked.

 

[sabester24]

I found a workaround which allowed me to add my failing Chase Cards:

1. Go through the process to try to add a card - When you see the failed to add screen stop, don't dismiss the popup.
2. Lock the phone and wait at least 15 minutes (trying sooner doesn't work, don't dismiss the popup)
3. Unlock the phone
4. Tap "Try Again" (dismisses the popup) and immediately hit "Next" in the top right. This time, it will work.

I have a theory that this is some sort of rate limiting at play. There's a bug on the add card screen that causes that very first screen (the one where you pick between adding a credit card, transit card of ID) to blow through a rate limit server-side. From then on, you're doomed to fail if your card add requires one of the URLs that's been rate limited. Once you've entered all your card details though, there's no more hits on that URL that's rate limited happening in the background (which is why I think it's a bug on that first add card screen). Thus, waiting 15 minutes allows the rate limit to clear and the card add to be successful on the next submit attempt.

I've been dealing with this issue for months and periodically been searching for fixes. Finally came upon this thread and thought this might just be the issue and fix.

However, seems that by waiting 15 minutes with my phone locked, the popup times out when I unlock my phone again. Not sure if this is a memory or battery management issue, but seems I'm not able to wait the full 15 minutes you advised.

Maybe 16.3 has tweaked the timeout window? Who knows! Anyway, still can't seem to add cards consistently. Seems like this is a major bug that Apple needs to fix.