Tap to pay not working for Apple Pay

I would check if the NFC reader in the phone work in other use cases.

For example if you can read NFC tags using a third party app.

For example either of these:

NFC Tools on the App Store (apple.com)

NFC-Reader on the App Store (apple.com)

If that does not work the NFC would seem to be the issue.

If that works, it's harder to say for sure.

If you can't read any NFC with the apps

Having done that you can try to isolate if this is a software issue or hardware issue by checking if it works after a clean install.

You can try a clean install of your device after a factory reset:

First make sure you have a backup

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Then facory reset your device:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

And set it up without a backup. See if the issue persists.

If it still does not work it is a hardware issue and will need service:

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

If that solved it there was a software issue. Try restoring the backup and see if it still works.

if that made the problem come back the backup is the problem

Good luck!

The cashier must setup the payment on the terminal and let you know when to bring the iPhone close to the terminal.

You must double click the sleep button on your iPhone before you bring the iPhone close to the terminal to activate the Apple Pay screen. Its not just online, you must double click when making payments in a physical store too.

Your iPhone's screen should be showing your selected card and a "Hold Near Reader" message before you try to bring it close to the terminal.

With the Apple Pay screen active on your iPhone and the terminal ready to receive payment, you can bring your iPhone near the terminal.

If the bank show no declines then it was declined because the back never got the transaction request. It was declined on a timeout, essentially. The most common reason is VPN. Do you use VPN? If so, delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile.

Sounds like you have a hardware issue. Please call Apple Support at 1-800-MY-APPLE and request they do remote diagnostics. Please mention to the support team member that you are have issues with NFC (Apple Pay) and your GPS.

How confused are YOU? You said I can see the ✔️ but on pos machine it is rejected and apple pay says it is rejected.

If the point of sale terminal rejects it, that means that the point of sale terminal saw it. If the terminal didn’t see it then it wouldn’t have rejected it, the terminal would just have kept waiting until it timed out. And the check mark means that the terminal acknowledged seeing the transaction request. If the terminal did not see the request your phone would have waited about 20 seconds, then told you to double-press again. The ✔️ means the POS terminal acknowledged seeing your phone, but the transaction was then rejected by the issuer. And that rejection was sent by the terminal to your iPhone, so the NFC communications path was working.

Have you updated to iOS 17.1? Do so.

I had an issue with iOS 17 that persisted through .2 and .3 on an iPhone 15.

If I held the phone to the reader, it presented the card, but when I double-clicked the side button, it did not register on the reader and complete the transaction.

17.1 has corrected that. I was just about to reset the phone entirely to try and fix it, but luckily, didn't have to.

The post/comment you’re responding to is almost 3 months old. As you stated we’ve learned a lot since then. There is a fix for the issue for most people. If you remove Apple Card from your Wallet app and also your Apple ID Account, restart the iPhone and then add it back, it then works for the vast majority of users experiencing this issue. Of course your experience could be different.

You can fix the issue, I did. Remove the card from your Wallet App, Apple Watch and Apple ID. Restart your iPhone and then add the card back to Apple Wallet, Watch and Apple ID Account.

Ok, it worked in the past and quit working you could have a hardware issue. Is your iPhone updated to the latest version iOS version? Have you none a forced restart?

Update iOS on iPhone - Apple Support

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

It’s not that. This is a problem Apple is aware of that starter for most on January 1st. I’ve spoken with them several times and even though they have know about it for 3 weeks now, they have yet to offer a solution or fix whatever is wrong on their end. I went as far as getting a new virtual card number. Still no go. All my other cards work with tap pay and my Apple Card works online and the physical card works. It’s just tap to pay. Literally Apples own feature works with other cards but not theirs. Very frustrating

Same issue happening with Tap to Pay with Apple Card specifically. Other cards in Apple Wallet work correctly, thus it’s not an NFC issue. I spoke to Apple support, they transferred to Goldman Sachs support, they stated it’s a known issue with Goldman Sachs Apple Card tap to pay. They said physical card and virtual pay ARE working.

I’m on an iPhone SE II running iOS 17.2.1.

Not sure when it started having this issue, but it’s been at least a week, possibly early January 2024.

The software issue with Apple Card is the expiration date. Remove the card from your Wallet, restart your iPhone, and then add the card back to your Wallet. This updates the card to the correct format.

“Close to the terminal” means less than 1/2” from the top of the phone to the “touchless” icon on the terminal. Have you verified that you are that close to the proper location on the terminal?

You may want to upgrade to the latest iOS, 17.2.1

Have you tried removing the card from Apple Wallet, restarting your iPhone and adding the card back into your Wallet? That has worked for some community members.