The things is it is ONLY Citibank. After 2 hours on a 3-way call last night with a T-mobile rep and me conversing with Citibank, the Citibank rep said the issue is that Iphione 16s are not compatible with Apple Wallet. (I kid you not!). She also left it as not something Citibank has any control over. The T-mobile rep asked for her employee ID to which she said they are not allowed to share that information.
The difference for me last night was I didn't get super frustrated because the T-mobile rep was listening and we could discuss the conversation when the Citibank reps put us on hold or a transfer. And he could answner directly why it was not an issue with the phone or T-mobile service whereas previously, Citibank reps would triangulate and blame Apple and T-mobile. And again, realize all my other banks' cards loaded perfectly- there weren't just 2 that did not. One was a Visa and One was a Mastercard. The commonality? CITIBANK!!!!
Apple tried many things and they have directed me to Visa and Mastercard directly, giving me the lingo that night make a difference. (Citibank had suggested I call Visa previously which I did. But they just said to say they needed to remove a block on my phone to which visa said they don't have that kind of control!)
The issue Apple said may be that the Citi cards are still associated with my old iPhone 14 (even though it had been totally reset/wiped clean) or something like that and so it is unavailable for a new phone with the same user's apple wallet.
The word Apple used was, "'allowlisted'.
Here is a transcript of the Support notes from Apple Advisor in case this helps someone else.
"I am just reaching out with some information regarding the Payment Network Operator which is the entity that is declining the transaction. These are the companies that put the symbol on the card so Visa, MasterCard, Discover etc.
Card issuers are unlikely to see this error because the PNO performs identity/security/fraud checks first before passing the card add request to the bank/issuer. Some things that can cause this issue are below.
- Incorrect card details or an old/expired card version is being used. Select "Add a different card" and enter the full details, and attempt adding manually as well.
- The card hasn’t been 'allowlisted' by MasterCard for Apple Pay. In other words, approved for use with this device’s Wallet.
The card issuer may need to escalate the issue to the PNO for further investigation. Apple doesn’t accept, verify, or decline cards and cannot override the PNO's decision."
Calling Mastercard now...
