Gift card error, Your payment authorization failed on card

TL;DR I was able to order the MacBook with gift cards after talking to four Apple Support specialists for over three hours and waiting an extra day to get an update.

I had the same issue when using multiple gift cards while purchasing a MacBook. I'm still astounded by Apple Support's uselessness in fixing this issue. I talked to four different support specialists for over three hours (including wait times) who all had no idea why this was happening. The first specialist transferred me to a sales specialist who gave up and transferred me to another specialist. The second specialist "guessed" that the gift cards were blocked due to a possibility of fraud and asked me to take photos of (1) the front/back of the gift cards and (2) the receipts. I sent all of the requested photos and screenshots, only to be transferred to another "Gift Card" specialist who could supposedly help me. The third specialist informed me that the gift cards were valid and didn't understand why the error message was popping up. So she transferred me to another specialist. The fourth specialist also didn't have any clue. As a last resort, she asked me for PIN numbers of the gift cards so that she could submit a request to people who have access to the backend system.

For reference, here is the error message I saw.

A day later, I received an email from Apple informing me that the issue has been resolved. There is no explanation as to why those error messages popped up.

I was able to place the order after I got this email.

I'm having same issue going on 2 months now with several digital giftcards i have, "Your payment authorization failed on card •••****. Please verify your information and try again, or try another payment method" always the first card entered is listed as failed. apple has issue with their system or something

A year later and this is still happening.

I traded in a lot of points from Chase Ultimate Rewards for enough gift cards to buy an iphone and my payment authorization fails every time. No matter which order I enter the cards, the first card number is the one in the error message.

Chase and Apple are both useless. I had one Apple rep go through all sorts of attempts - check validity of card; check balance; all good - only to literally give up.

Apple Support is the only one who can help you.

We are also users of Apple products & services like you.

If you have a valid payment method on file, instead of buying or order an App Store & iTunes gift card, you can Add money to your Apple Account balance anytime, no gift card needed, see -> Apple Gift Card - Apple (UK)

So try again:

Get support from Apple directly -> Get Support or call Apple in your region see -> Contact Apple for support and service or check -> here for more support and assistance.

"100% Working solution" is not working even when using apple ID. It has nothing to do with the credit card since "Your payment authorization failed on card ..." is done by APPLE NOT on the credit card end. It is an APPLE problem. Took 10 transfers to "Specialists" and they still could not fix a $1500 Gift card purchase online. $100 Gift cards with the same credit card no problem, larger amounts are the problem for APPLE.

I got the same issue just a few moments ago. Support suggested to pay for the purchase with my credit/debit card and then contact support to apply my gift-card balance to the purchase and refund my card.

100% Working solution

This error occurs when you are not using apple ID and continue as a guest or completely making the payment through gift cards.

Make sure :

You are ordering through your apple id

You have added a payment method to your apple account

You are paying atleast 1$ though a normal credit/debit card.

Works all the time

Get support from Apple directly -> Get Support or call Apple in your region see -> Contact Apple for support and service or check -> here for more support and assistance.

Did you get any solution to your problem?

Has this ever been resolved? I’m having the same exact problem

Same problem here :(

Having the 100% exact same issues 3 Apple GC, logged in with my apple ID and exact same error. Was on with support yesterday and spoke to 4 different people no one could figure it out.