Q: Credit Card is Declined

My point being is that I desire to procure an application for my new Ipad. I do not wish to have the device hacked. I am using Itunes v 10. I was advised by the tech assigned my case that the Apple policies as it stands now is that if you desire to buy an app you must use:
1. credit card with associated billing address from the same county as the ISP you are using.
2. apps store region appropriate for the county from which you are physically at.

If you look at the small writing under the iPad description fields www.apple.com/iPad you'll see that this type of disclaimer is being added.

I am having the same issue while in Hong Kong. I have done a lot of reading online about this and as far as I can tell, the people affected fit into two categories:

1) Those residing in the U.S.

Issue is caused by information that in the apple.store / apple.id / itunes databases not matching up with the credit card issuer. If you follow the instructions posted online to reset all the settings in the various Apple databases to match with your credit card issuer, it will likely solve your problem.

2) Those residing/traveling outside of the U.S. but have account and credit card information linked to the U.S. Itunes store and a U.S. credit card/billing address.

Issue is triggered by new security protocols in latest OS software in ITunes and devices such as the Iphone and Ipad which locks out your account if it determines that you are located outside of the U.S. Once you trigger this lock-out it can only be manually reset by Apple customer support. For me (in Hong Kong), I was able to download music on Itunes and videos on my AppleTv just fine. Trying to download a paid app with my HK Iphone 4 triggered a lock-out of my account.

Solution: Wait for an Apple Customer Service Rep to reset your account, but this does not guarantee that you will not be locked out again if you happen to trigger their protocols. In theory, we are in violation of Apple's Terms of Service by downloading media from outside the U.S./territories, and I conjecture that they are starting to enforce their policy. I suspect the only thing happening at Apple right now besides resetting your account (temporarily) are discussions about how to allow Americans traveling abroad to continue to use the U.S. Itunes store, but closing the loophole for those who are residents outside of the U.S. from using the store.

What can we do?
1) Let's list how our account got locked to determine if there is a pattern, and hopefully avoid triggering their protocols once again. For me, it was triggered by purchasing an app using an Iphone 4 purchased in Hong Kong.

2) We should be vocal in our complaints to Apple that they are losing a lot of revenue by blocking us from using the U.S. Itunes store.

I've been having the same problem. You'd think that Apple would want to do some damage control by disclosing to everyone what the issue is--or at least giving everyone a warning that their system is down instead of telling everyone that their credit card has been declined. They must have had a major security breach of everyone's credit card data and now they're freezing that capability until they can secure their credit card processes and notify everyone that they've had a breach.

I've been following all these forums for just over a week since I had the same issue and I agree that the problems seem to fall into those 2 categories.



For me, the issue occurred when I tried to download a free app for my new Ipad (the new Twitter app) on Sept 2. I was using Itunes on my PC when this lock-out first occured and I haven't been able to download anything including music or tv shows since on either my PC or Ipad.



I'm currently a student in the UK and have been using my paypal attached to my US CC and Bank account for several years. I bought an UK Itunes gift card and tried to create a new online account in the UK store (using my address here) and still no luck. So once locked out not only can't you purchase from the US store but you can't follow any of the instructions apple gives to start downloading from the "correct" country store.



I'm still waiting for the manual reset from Apple. It is very frustrating and has really limited the use of my Ipad. For those of us residing temporarily in outside the UK without the ability to obtain CC in that country it doesn't give us a lot of options to continue to be an Apple customer. As someone else mentioned - what is the point of having mobile technology if it is not actually mobile or only mobile within limited boundaries.



I don't beleive Apple will try to find away for those of us outside our home country to purchase while abroad (unless apple execs start to be locked out enmass). I think we will be told to either buy gift cards (if available), get new credit cards, or wait until you return home.



Personally I disagree with the business principles that limit what people can purchase by country. Does an artist or author really only want to sell their work to people inside certain borders? It all seems to be a type of corporate censorship so that multiple businesses (or countries) can control and make money on a single product.



Some might think I'm naive but I believe all the blocks on access encourage piracy more. I'd rather pay artist/developer for their creativity and time to create something I enjoy but if there are no legitimate routes for access some people will find away to get the content they want and in the end it will be the small artists who lose out.

Yes - seems to be an international issue. I work for a firm where I spend about 180 days a year in the US and the rest of the time abroad. To keep costs on phone calls down - I bought another phone in Holland where I will be on and off for the next year - made sense as US calling plans when abroad are very pricey. I believe that triggered my issue.

Apple's decision on this topic is very clear - they intend to not only be a "walled garden" but many "walled gardens" - one for each country. The fact that this does not match up with the global realities of business travelers is another reason why Apple will not be selected as an enterprise device provider. Think about business users trying to download a business app while traveling and not being able to do so... wait - I don't have to imagine it - it's happening to me right now!

My company is currently evaluating the Iphone versus Android devices - we are currently on Blackberry's but due to offices in India and Dubai we are switching. My recommendation to corporate will now have to be - Android as I cannot subject my staff to an inability to download apps like salesforce.com while traveling.

Here is the latest response I got from apple addressing why the issue has occured.

Dear Brandon,

Norman from the iTunes support team again. +*_Apparently recent changes to the security system resulted in a small percentage of our customers (still a large number) having their accounts blocked._*+ There are a number of protocols, some time consuming, that must be observed in order to unblock an account and still protect the security of the customer.

The team with the training and expertise is, I assure you, working hard at this and we appreciate the patience you have shown.

As a token of appreciation of your patience I have posted 3 song credits to your account. Thank you very much for being part of the iTunes Store family, Brandon. I hope you have a great day.

Sincerely,

Norman
iTunes Store Customer Support

Please Note: I work 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM ET Monday - Friday

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.

Norman,

This is a problem that many other user are having, as I gather from reading through the apple forums. The common link is that we are all almost Americans that are traveling abroad. I am currently in South Korea, and my billing address is in the United States. The ones who say their problem has been resolved say that they received a notice from apple saying there account has been reset and the wait 24 hours and try again. I can not say for sure that I have the same issue, but the fact of the matter is that it is taking much longer then I would expect to resolve this issue. I simply ONLY want to purchase the Nike+ GPS app.



On Sep 14, 2010, at 22:05, iTunes Store <iTunesStoreSupport@apple.com> wrote:

Dear Brandon,

Norman from the iTunes Store support team again. Thank you for your patience as Apple works to make your experience with the iTunes Store more enjoyable.

Apple is working toward a resolution of the issue you reported. Your experience with the iTunes Store is of the utmost importance. Your request is flagged for follow-up and you will be contacted once we have more information.

Sincerely,

Norman
iTunes Store Customer Support

Please Note: I work 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM ET Monday - Friday

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.

Customer First Name : Brandon
Customer Last Name : *******
email : ****************
Web Order # :
Support Subject : iTunes Store Account and Billing
Sub Issue : Managing your Account
See additional info below
OS version: Windows 7
Country: US
iTunes version: iTunes 10
iTunes account name: brandonm@mrtc.com
Specific request: My credit card or billing information is not accepted
Details:
When trying to purchase an APP (specificly Nike+ GPS) i get the following message: "Your payment method was declined. Tap Contineue to sign in, then update your billing info.". I have contacted my finacial institute that provides my debt card used for my payment method, they advise me they see now reason why the action was declined. Additionaly they see a 99 cents athorization from apple that is approved (note that the Nike+ GPS app is $1.99). What I am hoping to find out by sending this e-mail is can you tell me why it is declineing the card?

TrackID: 11377434

OK after sending 4 emails to customer service and the last email had attachments of all the letters and replies ..It took Apple 5 weeks to fix my account as of last week I am now able to download and purchase Applications...Today I got an email from Matt as follows
Hello Elaine,

I am sorry that you have experienced difficulties while attempting to update your account information. Please try again in 24 hours. If you are still unable to update your account information, let me know.

Sincerely,

Max

By the way Max does not reply to me personally lol

They mis-mailed me today saying that the problem was fixed and I was getting a 5-song credit. Except it was for somebody else's account. I wrote back and they apologized and gave me a 5-song credit too.

Brandon - you got short changed a couple songs there.

Also in Hong Kong - same problem - except I live here and am using a HK address and credit card.... I cannot use my account over Broadband BUT it works perfectly if I use 3G on either iPhone or iPad (Wifi switched off in both cases) - as soon as I activate Wifi, I get the Credit Card declined problem. This confirms many of the above theories that APPLE has introduced some IP security checking which is failing miserably (Asia Apple support told me this morning that my account is linked to Australia and that is why my HK address and credit card are not working over Broadband). I have never lived in Australia or had bank accounts there. I can only assume that APPPLE's new security software is misreading my IP address and placing me in Australia and I get rejected on the mismatch. Clearly this does not happen when I use the 3G option on my iPhone and iPad. Go figure!!

Bryan-hk - that is beyond ridiculous. I just hope that internally at Apple this IP checking change has resulted in as much pain, annoyance, anger and fist shaking as it's caused their customers. A head prominently displayed on a pike outside 1 Infinite Loop would be welcome.

Why on Earth are they going through this idiocy to deprive themselves of revenue? Who spends their time figuring out ways of angering customers and making less money?

Meanwhile I continue to wake up every morning hoping to get my own golden ticket in my Inbox informing me that I'm free once again to throw money in the direction of our fickle walled garden gaolers.

At least at night I can console myself with visions of Android phones dancing in my head waiting until my current service contract is up.

2 years ago iPhone was the only option on the block....today's ALLOT different. I'm about one step from telling the Apple guy that's 'helping' me with my credit card denial problem to just take his time because I'm going Android. 3 weeks is un-freakin-acceptable. A multi hundred billion dollar company that cant figure out how to accept PayPal????

I am also having this issue....in europe....

1) Can't change credit cards more than 5 times in 30 days
2) tried Clickandbuy.... not working
3) tried to solve with gift card.......unable to buy gift card even with a newly created itunes account with a brand new credit card.....

Numerous mails to apple in the past 15 days.....and the issue is not solved...

Having the closed network itunes store...and not able to solve the basic issue....The itunes payment system seems basically flawed and unusable by end consumers.......

I too created a Click and Buy account - after my credit cards and paypal failed - but despite Click and Buy telling me the account is successfully connected to Itunes, it still won't work.

The fact that I can't even use the Itunes gift card I especially went out and bought after all else failed is the most fustrating thing to me.

The only responses I have had from Itunes customer service are two emails that the issue has been "flagged for follow-up".

Over a two week turn around time for an issue obviously effecting a large number of people is unsatisfactory to me.

I haven't read all 10 pages of this thread. I had this problem, any solution that used my US based credit card, Apple would deny. Paypal included. However, today I verified my Paypal account with my savings account at a US bank and I'm renting and downloading movies fine in Costa Rica. My Visa is removed from Apple's sight. Hope this might work for some others.

I sent an email earlier to Apple but have received no helpful reply. Also, Google Chrome doesn't work with the Apples - Paypal information exchange.

Same problem here, foreigner living in China.
I tried all combinations of address and valid credit cards without success.
Sent a support request, no response yet.
My brand new ipod4g and ipad are completely useless. Very very bad user experience, if they don't solve very soon, I'll consider returning all.

What I find unacceptable is that they force you to have a credit card, even to download free apps and if you never intend to buy anything.