I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with Apple Support (who were exceptional), and another 10-20 minutes scouring the internet for a fix prior to contacting them. Figured I'd document it here for others who might be searching for the same problem.
My issue came up when I tried to download an application (free, in this case, but it doesn't matter): my credit card information had expired. I went to update the card, and was greeted by a slightly confusing screen that both allowed me to update the expiration date and security code, while also using the card in Apple Pay. Since I was already using the card with Apple Pay and had been for years, I wasn't sure whether it intended to add the card to Apple Pay again, or whether it was going to switch from billing the card directly to billing with Apple Pay. So I did both: updated the card information, and gave the go-ahead to use Apple Pay. However, every time I tried to download the app it kept telling me that I needed to verify my billing information, only to kick me to the screen that showed the card (through Apple Pay) successfully set as my billing option. Rebooting my phone, and signing out of and back into the Apple Store, didn't resolve anything. Changing to a different credit card listed with Apple Pay also didn't resolve anything.
The potential confounder for me is that, while I do not have an outstanding balance on my account, I do have a subscription with Apple Pay. I am also the "head" of Family Sharing, and as such it's impossible for me to not have a payment method listed.
If you Google for this issue, most of them have to do with clearing outstanding balances or simply getting a payment method set. I couldn't find anything about this loop. Per Apple support, this is something that has cropped up more recently and that the Apple engineers are working to fix.
The fix involved a few steps. To make it easier to keep track of what I'm talking about, I'll refer to my different credit cards by color: my Green card was the one that expired, while my Blue card didn't need any updates. Both cards were enrolled with Apple Pay, but the Green card was listed as the payment method for my account, and for the App Store.
1) Set a new payment method. Settings > (your name and AppleID, listed at the top) > Payment & Shipping.
Again, in my case, all of my credit cards are enrolled with Apple Pay. I had tried changing which Apple Pay card was being used, but that didn't change anything. We un-enrolled the Blue card from Apple Pay, and then added it manually as a credit card payment method. We then removed the Green card (listed through Apple Pay) as a payment method.
2) Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay.
Here, I selected the Green card (the one that had expired) and removed it from Apple Pay. I then added it back again as if it were a new card, ignoring Apple's offer to add in the information already linked from my account. (This process is pretty quick if you use the camera to detect the numbers on your card.)
3) Settings > (your name and AppleID, listed at the top) > Payment & Shipping.
I added the Green card through Apple Pay, and removed the Blue card. Success - I was then able to download again through the App Store. I then added the Blue card back into Apple Pay, and it's as if nothing was changed.
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Apple Pay is supposed to update things like expiration dates and security codes directly from the card issuer; there is no way to update this information from the Wallet app or settings. It sounds like there was a problem where Apple Pay was not updating this information... but customer support wasn't entirely certain if that's what the issue was. It also wouldn't explain why my credit card that wasn't expired wouldn't work when set as my primary. Regardless, it's apparently somewhat widespread and they stated that I didn't need to contact my card-issuer over it because it's likely a shared issue between Apple and card issuers.
I hope this has been helpful.
My issue came up when I tried to download an application (free, in this case, but it doesn't matter): my credit card information had expired. I went to update the card, and was greeted by a slightly confusing screen that both allowed me to update the expiration date and security code, while also using the card in Apple Pay. Since I was already using the card with Apple Pay and had been for years, I wasn't sure whether it intended to add the card to Apple Pay again, or whether it was going to switch from billing the card directly to billing with Apple Pay. So I did both: updated the card information, and gave the go-ahead to use Apple Pay. However, every time I tried to download the app it kept telling me that I needed to verify my billing information, only to kick me to the screen that showed the card (through Apple Pay) successfully set as my billing option. Rebooting my phone, and signing out of and back into the Apple Store, didn't resolve anything. Changing to a different credit card listed with Apple Pay also didn't resolve anything.
The potential confounder for me is that, while I do not have an outstanding balance on my account, I do have a subscription with Apple Pay. I am also the "head" of Family Sharing, and as such it's impossible for me to not have a payment method listed.
If you Google for this issue, most of them have to do with clearing outstanding balances or simply getting a payment method set. I couldn't find anything about this loop. Per Apple support, this is something that has cropped up more recently and that the Apple engineers are working to fix.
The fix involved a few steps. To make it easier to keep track of what I'm talking about, I'll refer to my different credit cards by color: my Green card was the one that expired, while my Blue card didn't need any updates. Both cards were enrolled with Apple Pay, but the Green card was listed as the payment method for my account, and for the App Store.
1) Set a new payment method. Settings > (your name and AppleID, listed at the top) > Payment & Shipping.
Again, in my case, all of my credit cards are enrolled with Apple Pay. I had tried changing which Apple Pay card was being used, but that didn't change anything. We un-enrolled the Blue card from Apple Pay, and then added it manually as a credit card payment method. We then removed the Green card (listed through Apple Pay) as a payment method.
2) Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay.
Here, I selected the Green card (the one that had expired) and removed it from Apple Pay. I then added it back again as if it were a new card, ignoring Apple's offer to add in the information already linked from my account. (This process is pretty quick if you use the camera to detect the numbers on your card.)
3) Settings > (your name and AppleID, listed at the top) > Payment & Shipping.
I added the Green card through Apple Pay, and removed the Blue card. Success - I was then able to download again through the App Store. I then added the Blue card back into Apple Pay, and it's as if nothing was changed.
-----------------------------
Apple Pay is supposed to update things like expiration dates and security codes directly from the card issuer; there is no way to update this information from the Wallet app or settings. It sounds like there was a problem where Apple Pay was not updating this information... but customer support wasn't entirely certain if that's what the issue was. It also wouldn't explain why my credit card that wasn't expired wouldn't work when set as my primary. Regardless, it's apparently somewhat widespread and they stated that I didn't need to contact my card-issuer over it because it's likely a shared issue between Apple and card issuers.
I hope this has been helpful.
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