Users Reporting Apple Pay Problems After Changes in iPhone Security Status

[Robert.Walter]

Happy New Year Everybody! I couldn't get an Apple Employee to take my Apple Pay when I was in the Apple Store after Black Friday...

I think Apple's own store employees may not be well informed about Pay.

I bought an iPhone 6 in Zurich, told the guy who sold me my phone that I was looking forward to using it for Pay (I have a US based Amex and Visa cards as well as US iTunes Store acct) ... Dude there adamantly and kinda arrogantly told me that there was no way no how that Pay worked here. After setting it up the next day it worked perfectly, been using it ever since.

I was then kinda surprised that I couldn't use Pay and fingerprint authorization to pay for my Care+ for my phone. Had to call in old school style and buy it from an Care phone rep. (And actually because I have my credit card postal mail delivered to my address here in Switzerland instead of the USA, the apple folks charged me 119 CHF, rather than 99 USD. Had to call the next day to cancel and reorder to get the right price.

Nice folks all during the order and refund and reorder process, but I wonder how many folks get overcharged like this without realizing it. (I also realize that I am somewhat of an edge case.)

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Sounds like it's still easier just to get out your wallet and your credit card, swipe it, and sign, and go on your merry way.

Yes, until your details are stolen during the swipe or from the details saved after the swipe.

Then it's all fun and games.

 

[NMBob]

Easier perhaps, but far less secure.

It's been so insecure up to now that credit cards will never catch on.

 

[kwizatz]

I think Apple's own store employees may not be well informed about Pay.

Agreed. I had a shattered screen repaired at the Apple store, had to disable passcode etc which removed the Apple Pay setup from my phone. Didn't realize this had happened until the next time I tried to use it and was holding it up to the scanner repeatedly like an idiot. They should give you a reminder that you need to set the Pay info up again.

That said, I had no problem adding my card back in and have been using it without issue since.

 

[ttss6]

iCloud was having issues on my 6+ so I signed out and back in. Later on, I wanted to use Pay to make a purchase only to realize my cards were gone :/ If it still requires my fingerprint to work, why were they removed in the first place? Heck you can't even unlock my phone without my fingerprint or code..

 

[dampfnudel]

Hopefully, it's just a software issue that will be resolved with 8.2 and not a hardware issue with the secure enclave on the iPhone 6/6 Plus.

 

[gnasher729]

I think Apple's own store employees may not be well informed about Pay.

I bought an iPhone 6 in Zurich, told the guy who sold me my phone that I was looking forward to using it for Pay (I have a US based Amex and Visa cards as well as US iTunes Store acct) ... Dude there adamantly and kinda arrogantly told me that there was no way no how that Pay worked here. After setting it up the next day it worked perfectly, been using it ever since.

I suppose a guy in Switzerland would be very careful what he says. If he says it doesn't work and it does, everything is fine. If he says it works and it doesn't, then the phone doesn't work as described and he has to take it back if you complain. Even if he's heard that it works, he wouldn't admit it.

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So...another bug rendering another tentpole feature of iOS 8 unusable (ref. Health app). Joy. I'm looking forward to seeing the buggy mess that will be iOS 8.2 with the Apple Watch. I foresee all sorts of shenanigans...

A small number of people with a problem. A problem that is obvious so they won't be caught out. That doesn't make it unusable in any way.

 

[doelcm82]

It's been so insecure up to now that credit cards will never catch on.

People are so lazy these days.

If your credit card information is stolen, you simply call your card issuer, and they ask you about recent charges. You identify yourself using your mother's maiden name or some similar piece of information and then verify which purchases you actually made. Then you pay with cash or a different card until they send you a new card via Fed Ex. It's so easy and convenient, I don't see the need for a system that makes it difficult for someone to obtain your account information.

 

[eacummings]

Did an iCloud restore on my phone about a month ago. Didn't have any issue adding my cards back into passport. Sounds like a frustrating issue.

Same here plus done a restore from computer and setup as new iPhone had to add CC again to Apple Pay without any problems, the restores did not fix the problem I was having with spotlight search, Apple replaced my iPhone

 

[PowerBook-G5]

Hopefully, it's just a software issue that will be resolved with 8.2 and not a hardware issue with the secure enclave on the iPhone 6/6 Plus.

8.2?!? I'm thinking that we'll see 8.2 around mid- to late-March (around when I think/hope the  Watch will be released), so I don't think that they'd leave a problem like this unfixed for that long. I'd rather see this issue fixed in a 8.1.3 release sometime in the next week or so, if it's a software problem.

 

[newellj]

So...another bug rendering another tentpole feature of iOS 8 unusable (ref. Health app). Joy. I'm looking forward to seeing the buggy mess that will be iOS 8.2 with the Apple Watch. I foresee all sorts of shenanigans...

Given the lack of reports here, I don't think I'd conclude that this is a common problem. There are reports at the Apple support forums, but just about anything, including the zombie apocalypse and the resurrection of Elvis, can be "documented" with forum posts over there.

 

[jaarso]

It is not clear how many iPhone 6 owners are affected by this issue. It could be a system-wide glitch affecting all Apple Pay users or an issue with only a small number of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets. Not surprisingly, Apple has yet to comment officially on the matter.

It's not a system-wide issue. I have the 6 and had to reset my phone a few weeks ago. Doing so removed my cards from Apple Pay but I was able to successfully re-add all three of my cards.

 

[xARx2]

Easier perhaps, but far less secure.

Then why are there more iPhone users than Blackberry users?

 

[newellj]

It's so easy and convenient, I don't see the need for a system that makes it difficult for someone to obtain your account information.

In the past seven years I've had at least five or six card fraud incidents. One was ~$17,000 and the other was just under $12,000. Citibank didn't ask for a penny from me in connection with any of these, but the cost of that is built into the credit card cost structure that you (thank you! ) and I () pay. I agree that it's easy and convenient, but a more secure system would presumably save us all a lot of money.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

People are so lazy these days.

If your credit card information is stolen, you simply call your card issuer, and they ask you about recent charges. You identify yourself using your mother's maiden name or some similar piece of information and then verify which purchases you actually made. Then you pay with cash or a different card until they send you a new card via Fed Ex. It's so easy and convenient, I don't see the need for a system that makes it difficult for someone to obtain your account information.

Not exactly convenient to have to go to the bank to get cash and use that (and lose cash back rewards and the ability to make online purchases to boot). Two different cards were compromised at the same time in my case. A merchant pretended that my Amex card didn't work so I handed him my Citi card. Hence both were skimmed at the same time and cloned for the same unauthorized charge. Apple Pay reduces this type of incident.

 

[Buran]

The day or the day after Apple Pay was released, I accidentally removed my cards from it by clearing my iCloud login details from the phone, which surprised me but is a sensible precaution, I suppose. I was able to re-add the cards. The phone is a 64 GB iPhone 6. I had iOS 8.1 at the time.

Could this be a bug in later versions?

 

[QuarterSwede]

Sounds like it's still easier just to get out your wallet and your credit card, swipe it, and sign, and go on your merry way.

You haven't used Apple Pay then. I was skeptical as I had a NFC credit card that took 5 seconds to read and just swiping it was faster. However, Apple Pay is actually very quick and since all you have to do is hover your phone over the reader and touch the home button (TouchID) it's faster than digging your wallet out, pulling the card out, and swiping. That and it's actually secure. I don't know about you but lower APRs because fraud goes way down sounds really good to me. Trust me, you're indirectly paying for all those fraud charges.

 

[Keirasplace]

Apple Pay is so secure that Apple can't even get back into it if loses the keys . Obviously this is a software bug which demonstrates how secure the enclave is.

 

[powers74]

See, now, this is a real issue. Unlike a lawsuit over how many GBs a phone has.

Haha I was going to say this looks like it would be a good class action law suit!

 

[AllieNeko]

It's been so insecure up to now that credit cards will never catch on.

No, but swiping is on its way out this year anyway, by the end of the year swiping a card will be very rare and mostly only at smaller merchants too lazy to upgrade and willing to eat the cost of fraud.

 

[Tech198]

so cards that were once in the phone some info is left before from those even when the phone is reset, thus the dialog message ?

Its a security feature

This is why i never rush to use new technology... And probably never will... There are always problems.

I'm just glad (a i haven't got a 6 or 6 Plus, and b), i will never use Apple Pay, ever..

I'll go kicking and screaming.

What's so hard about doing your own security? I find it pretty easy. You only have yourself to blame, and you can't blame Apple for your mistakes..... What's so bad about that ?

 

[AllieNeko]

What's so hard about doing your own security? I find it pretty easy. You only have yourself to blame, and you can't blame Apple for your mistakes..... What's so bad about that ?

It's your mistake when a merchant you shop at gets breached? What the ?????

 

[Tech198]

It's your mistake when a merchant you shop at gets breached? What the ?????

"It is possible that the automatic removal of Apple Pay information does not clear the enclave properly, leaving behind details that block the addition of credit card information."

What has this to do with the merchant?.... You add/remove a card on your phone,, its all local.

 

[AllieNeko]

"It is possible that the automatic removal of Apple Pay information does not clear the enclave properly, leaving behind details that block the addition of credit card information."

What has this to do with the merchant?.... You add/remove a card on your phone,, its all local.

I thought you were ranting about not using Apple Pay and being responsible for your own security. My mistake, I never would've guessed you were really meaning users were responsible for Apple's procedures to auto-erase data not working properly.

 

[JAT]

Doesn't really have to do with this problem but did you really get AP to work at home depot? In which city do you live that it worked? I live in the suburbs of Chicago and I have yet to actually see it work.

Used it last night in Minneapolis.

 

[vpndev]

Doesn't really have to do with this problem but did you really get AP to work at home depot? In which city do you live that it worked? I live in the suburbs of Chicago and I have yet to actually see it work.

I have it work at my local HD with a Visa card. But with MasterCard it says "Done" with the check mark, and then "Declined".

This has gone on ever since AP started.