Use of foreign credit cards on Apple's Chinese storefront.

Question

Level 1

17 points

Use of foreign credit cards on Apple's Chinese storefront.

Hi, I'm an American living in Shanghai, China. Up until recently (I don't know when) I have been able to use my US credit cards like apple card on the Chinese apple.com website. I don't know what happened, but this is no longer possible as it requires me to have my billing address in China. I'm not here year round, due to my work, but I am here often, so of course I'm not going to change my billing address to a Chinese one, plus that may mess with my iCloud as accounts with Chinese billing address are automatically prompted to move their data to Chinese servers, which I obviously would not want. Any knowledge out there on if this is a permanent change apple has made or a temporary one?

I literally just bought the 14 Pro Max with my US billing address and Apple Card last October, so that's where I'm coming from with this. Thank you for the help.

🤗

Posted on Jun 13, 2023 9:42 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 29, 2023 4:55 PM in response to Jeff Donald

I did contact Goldman Sachs today, he asked me if I see any declines to the transaction, as I checked, there was no decline records.

This means that the clearance for payment request never reached Goldman Sachs.

I highly suspect this was a restriction placed inside China’s Apple website’s backend, as per Chinese government regulations, but I cannot entirely sure why. Perhaps they want to promote using their UnionPay system instead of MasterCard.

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Answer 2

Jeff Donald

Level 8

44,478 points

Aug 29, 2023 2:32 PM in response to spordniar

Fixes aren’t always as simple as a software update or >flipping a switch.< Financial services assume no changes are ever made by legislation of either country.

Two community members experiencing similar issues about the same time frame does not bode well. I can say no one recently has stated this issue or concern.

My best advice would be to escalate the issue with Goldman Sachs. Unfortunately, GS does not have an international toll free number. Chat will not be able to escalate the issue to a high enough level of support.

Another possibility would be to escalate the issue with Apple Support and get to level 2 or 3 for help with the issue. Contact information for both GS and Apple are bellow.

Lastly, credit card companies can detect the use of a VPN. If you use a VPN, you may need to disable the service.

CONTACTING — Goldman Sachs Bank

Call toll-free at 877-255-5923; or

Write to: Goldman Sachs Bank, Lockbox 6112, P.O. Box 7247, Philadelphia, PA 19170-6112.

Choose your country or region - Official Apple Support

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Aug 29, 2023 10:06 AM in response to Ziriko

I am having exactly the same issue! I don't know what's happening, but I also noticed that something has changed. Perhaps something is going on between US and China in terms of the financial system.

I hope Apple fix it soon, it's very inconvenient to buy Apple products in China for my Chinese friends. :(

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Answer 4

Ziriko Author

Level 1

17 points

Sep 4, 2023 12:37 AM in response to spordniar

This is my guess as well. Goldman wouldn't block people from using the card abroad as money is money and an interest payment is an interest payment. My guess is that Apple is unable to offer that as a way to pay in Mainland China now.

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Answer 5

Ziriko Author

Level 1

17 points

Sep 12, 2023 10:14 PM in response to Ziriko

So this may not be a problem only on the Chinese Apple Online store, I was just trying to order on the Japanese store as I'll be traveling there soon and faced the same issue of not being able to change the country for the billing address. Here is a gif what Im seeing. I did have a VPN on though, so maybe that's why in this case I'm not able to change it.

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Answer 6

Jeff Donald

Level 8

44,478 points

Aug 29, 2023 5:19 PM in response to spordniar

The GS rep is 100% correct in regard to transactions. If you’re not behind a VPN, the issue is internal and I’ll leave it at that. Governments sometimes want US dollars.

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Answer 7

Jeff Donald

Level 8

44,478 points

Sep 13, 2023 5:54 AM in response to Ziriko

Many credit and debit cards won’t work behind a VPN.

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Use of foreign credit cards on Apple's Chinese storefront.

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