Is there an Apply Pay per transaction or daily limit?

Question

Is there an Apply Pay per transaction or daily limit?

This is not my Apple Card’s credit limit, but rather a limit per transaction or daily cumulative limit using my Apple Pay (iPhone) to complete a purchase.

My typically Apply Pay purchases are $300 or less. But, twice within the past 2-3 months I tried to make larger purchases (one for $1K and the second for $875). Both times the Apple Pay transaction failed (multiple attempts to process the Apple Pay transaction were unsuccessful). I eventually used the physical Apple Card without any issues.

Obviously, there was not any issue with my card’s credit limit. Bottom line, my physical card (Apple Card payment) worked, but Apple Pay (iPhone payment) would not.

Both merchants accept Apple Pay. And, I’ve used Apple Pay (iPhone) at both in the past. As a matter of fact, when Apple Pay failed on the $1K purchase requiring me to use the physical card, I make a $70 purchase using Apple Pay (iPhone) at the same register immediately after Apple Pay failed on the $1k purchase.

Both the owner and I thought it was strange Apply Pay would NOT work on the larger purchase, but worked on the smaller purchase. I’ve know the owner for years, he said they did not have any limits on Apple Pay purchases. This is the reason I’m curious if there’s a limit or restriction on Apple Pay transactions?

I reached out to Apple Card Support. I was transferred multiple times between Goldman Sacks (GS) and Apple (not sure the difference between the various Apple Card Support specialists spoke with at GS and Apple). They also thought it was strange as well that the larger purchases failed. But, neither had a good answer why the lager purchases failed. They did things like reviewed my Apple Pay setting on my iPhone, reviewed the account, etc. Nothing stood out why the purchases would not process. There were some speculations (i.e., like the merchants may have an Apple Pay limit, etc.). But as I stated earlier, that’s not the case. I know the owner at one the stores. He tried to help process the Apple Pay transaction and he said he did not impose Apple Pay limits.

I hope someone in the community can provide some insight on why my larger purchases cannot process using Apple Pay.

Thank you

Posted on Aug 4, 2022 7:48 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 14, 2022 12:58 PM in response to DaThiryPointBuck

I finally had some time and I contacted Goldman Sacks (GS) again regarding this issues. When I mentioned "resetting the token" as described by askbarnabas, they had no idea what I was referring too.

I when through my original post (the two purchases in question). The GS agent said some large transactions do require approval and an email is send asking the customer/user to verify the purchase. Once you verify the purchase via the email, you should then reattempt the purchase using Apple Pay and it would process. That seams to be a clumsy way to verify large purchase, how many users standing at the cashier with other customer behind them would look to see if they received an email. Regardless, I never received an email and nothing went into my junk folder either.

So I had four questions for the GS agent (1) why do I needed to verify a large purchased when using Apple Pay (iPhone) and not when I use the physical Apple Card (2) what happens when you don't get the email to complete the verification/purchase (3) could the verification be done in advance (4) and what defines larger purchases (amount)? I know with some of my other cards cards, I can log into their website and let them know I'm making a larger purchase.

The GS agent said as far as she knew, it could not be done in advance and said the "additional verification" step helps to prevent fraud. She could not answer question 2 or 4, other than to say, just use your physical Apple Card if Apple Pay does not work.

I'm not sure how "verification" helps with using Apple Pay (iPhone). The Apple Pay website says "Apple Pay is safer than using a physical credit, debit, or prepaid card."

So you want me to verify large Apple Pay (iPhone) purchases which Apple says are safer than using a physical card, but verification is NOT required when using the physical Apple Card. That makes no sense and contradicts Apple's position on using Apple Pay versus the physical Apple Card. Like I indicated in my original post (and explained to the GS agent), I was able to use my physical card to make the purchase without any verification. Both time, when using the physical card the transactions when through immediately; no verification required.

Just to be clear, the purchases are NOT being declined. The message on the terminal varied slightly, but both basically indicated the Apple Pay transaction would not be processed.

If Apple is monitoring the Support Community, please weigh-in on how to resolve the issue with larger purchases when using Apple Pay.

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Answer 2

askbarnabas

Level 10

104,230 points

Aug 6, 2022 8:08 AM in response to DaThiryPointBuck

I know you talked with Goldman Sachs but did you have them reset the tokens for the card?

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Answer 3

Aug 14, 2022 1:13 PM in response to DaThiryPointBuck

I’ll add a bit more here:

I agree that “something new” seems to be going on.

I’ve used an Apple card since they were initially issued and had never had a purchase - some quite large - declined or questioned.

Just last week I attempted an online purchase (card not present / phone not present) for an electronic device costing about $1k.

I received the usual entry in the wallet followed shortly by red words underneath “Declined - Validation Required”

When clicking the wallet entry, I was asked if this was indeed an authorized transaction.

After clicking “yes” it directed me to resubmit the order.

The 2nd attempt went thru normally.

This all seems quite reasonable, but it def seems to be new. There was never any e-mail or iMessage from GS.

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Answer 4

Aug 7, 2022 6:19 AM in response to askbarnabas

askbarnabas,

Thank you for your reply. Between the various support staff representatives I spoke with at Goldman Sacks and Apple Card Support, I probably spent over an hour on the phone. No one ever mentioned resetting the token. What is the purpose of the token?

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Answer 5

Aug 14, 2022 1:36 PM in response to Chattanoogan

Chattanoogan,

Thank you for your comments. I started using the Apple Card in the early fall of 2019. These are the only two Apple Pay transactions not process successfully that I recall. Both were in-store purchases and both amount were much lager than my typical purchase. I never received anything in the Wallet App such as “Declined Validation Required” or received an email for verification. And, I agree the process you experienced does seem reasonable.

Unfortunately, with these two purchases I don't seem to get that far into the process. I thought it was strange Apple Pay failed on the $1K purchase. Apple Pay actually failed multiple of times, with a message like "Apple Pay transaction would not be processed" displayed on the terminal. I used my physical Apple Card to complete the $1K purchase, then immediately made a $70 purchase using Apple Pay (iPhone) at the same register with same cashier, who was the owner, without any issues. We were both baffled.

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