Your payment method was declined

The only way i can 'resolve' this issue is to keep switching between both of my debit cards every time this issue arises. So you will need at least 2 cards until Apple sort this **** out.

When I was in S. Korea last week I had this problem when trying to use the US Apple Store. It works fine in other Asian countries. When I left S. Korea the problem went away. I don't know if it has anything to do with this:

http://bit.ly/9FN29q

(S. Koreans were avoiding laws restricting games on the S. Korean website by logging in to the US store.)

I've tried two cards - still nothing.

I'm in the UK, using a UK account and UK payment cards. I just got a new ipod touch. I bought one application and everything was fine.

Went to buy whatsapp and nothing. Tells me to update my details which I do. Update my card and it messes about. Tells me I've not verified which I have and ... it's doing my bloody head in. All I want is whatsapp.

No wonder people have their phone cracked. It avoids all this ****.

Not sure what you mean with "phone cracked". Are you referring to the term "jail broken"? If so , this has nothing to do with your credit card not working.

I'm having the SAME PROBLEM since two week. I tried a different credit card, still say declined. I then tried using my PayPal and it still declined it.
What can I do?

I'm no longer experiencing this problem after contacting iTunes support via email. They gave no indication of the cause of or solution to the problem. Good luck everyone.

My problem was solved.
I was using the company's wireless which had some security. I turned my wifi off and tried to purchase the app through 3G network, it started working.

Guys

I know the frustation that everyone is feeling, I placed a ticket with itunes support on oct 26 and they have will been emailing me with some support, but lately for the past 2 days, there hasnt been no reply from them which is more that allocated 24 hrs support. So I thought of doing some experiments and it worked for me.!!!! Finally able to purchase app on the iphone 4. So if someone is experiencing the same issue. Could you please follow the below steps and let me know, if this is resolves this issue. If so, I am going to submit a email to Itunes support about their very poor quality service, which Steve Jobs, talks greatly about.

I want someone to try this out, for people who cannot buy a app on the app store using iphone 4.

This procedure what i am outlying is for people who are residing in Canada, but you like you can try it in other countries. please do so and let me know.

1. Goto to this link : https://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/canadastore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm= acct&mco=E4609A84
2. Login into your account using the apple ID
3. After you have logged in you will noticed this on the screen
Account
- Change account information
- Change 1-Click settings
4. Now click on the Change 1-Click settings
5. Make sure all the information is right. If you have already entered your credit card, then please do not re-enter, then enter the password and type the security code for the credit card and click "Turn 1-Click On"
6. You will reach back the screen on step 3
7. Click on the account information.
8. Ensure you have all the information correct and if you know the credit card you have entered is correct do not re-enter it, just type the password and security code and click on "Continue"
9. Now using the Itunes, go to the Itunes Store and login using the apple ID
10. Purchase a apple, dont worry if you have not plugged your iphone. Just click purchase the application.

After this, you will notice that the app will be purchased and downloaded into your computer. Using the iphone, go to the app store, search for the same app and click buy. If steps were followed, then it will tell you that you have already purchased the app and you can download it again. You should be able to download it.

Try purchasing another app on the iphone and it should work for you. Please note the following

1. I did care about what version of OS I am running, just itunes and iphone
2. I did not care about what version of itunes I am running, but for people who are interested -10.0.1
3. I did not care about what version of IOS I am running, but for people who are interested - 4.1

I am apple app developer myself, I know the frustration that everyone is going through. It drove me nuts for past 4 days, since i noticed it

Please let me know if this really work for you.

thanks
Harsha

Hi there,

Thanks for providing the method.

I have followed step by step, but it still not working. I can sign in from the Apple website, but when I open the iTunes, it required to verify my credit AGAIN. It turns out the "Payment Declined" message again.....What a terrible message.

It really driving me crazy!!

still not fixed. Having same issue. Credit card works everywhere except itunes. Visa told me apple isn't sending them the request at all when itunes claims the card was declined. Its a straight forward software bug that they should have fixed months ago.

I reported it to support with no response.

I have been waiting for apple itunes support to answer for several days since I received their machine generated formletter response telling me they're investigating. Finally after trying everything I could think of I figured it out myself. As suspected and confirmed by Visa, this isn't a problem with the credit card or the credit card information, but an itunes store desktop application bug. First it is displaying a misleading and inaccurate message on entering valid credit card information for an available credit card with more than enough credit (your credit card has been declined). This message implies that apple sent the request to your credit card vendore which wastes your time and the credit card vendor's when you contact them to investigate.

It turns out the whole issue is caused by poorly coded integration between itunes store desktop application and apple store web application. I found an old apple knowledge base article which said that whenever you update account info on itunes store, it automatically updates apple store.

What was really happening when itunes store displayed the CC declined message was that it was trying to update apple store's information to match, but the apple store account info has different options and validaiton than the itunes store accounts info (in my case the apple store doesn't have an option for my country, Jordan). So when a validation error was encountered by itunes desktop app as it was trying to update apple store information, it just falls back to displaying credit card declined simply because the apple programmers did not bother (too lazy I guess) to take the validation error from the apple store and display it in itunes.

So what I did was open apple store account management, change my email and save. Then open itunes login with the new email, then itunes will ask me to re-enter account info (not just billing info) this allowed my cc to be accepted immediately.

I tried with 4 of my cards and also paypal account, 4 different apple id, 3 different apple computers (iMac, Macbook, Powerbook G4) with different version OS (10.6, 10.5, 10.4) and 3 versions of iTunes (9.0.3, 10.0, 10.1), and THE PROBLEM HASN'T BEEN SOLVED.

I was so desperate, and the last thing that came to my mind that I haven't tried is.......WINDOWS.

Believe it or not, I tried on my dad's PC, I downloaded the latest iTunes on his PC (he doesn't has iTunes before, my dad is an andriod guy), then register a new account, and IT WORKS....I really hate to say that but PC saved me this time...

If you need to update your credit card info from an iphone and you get the message "Your payment method is declined" and you have tried entering the correct info many times, to no avail, try the following:

For payment type (ie Visa Mastercard etc) select NONE. Then select DONE.

Then it all works..
Don't ask me why just does..

Cheers

I wonder if Apple doesn't know about such problem (Problem will affect the sales on Apple stores) for many days and maybe weeks,

Are they able to keep our credit cards information safe ? !!!!!

Dear Apple: I hope your watching these threads closely and will send an answer immediately. I updated all my apps today, successfully. But now it 3am, and I am trying to download a free sudoku app, and my credit card has been declined. I'll call my bank and Visa tomorrow and ask them way Apple is allowed to do this.