Paying Apple Card with bank Bill Pay

Question

Level 1

4 points

Paying Apple Card with bank Bill Pay

My wife and I both have Apple Cards. I would like to pay it with my bank's bill pay. My Apple Card worked fine. My wife's Apple Card gets an error message: "The account number provided does not match the

format we expected. " I received this EXACT message from two different banks. Apple and Goldman point the finger at each other for the problem. I spend 4 hours on the phone today with representatives sending me to the other entity when I asked to speak to a supervisor. Any ideas to explore from the community? ps: I have spent 3 weeks with my bank troubleshooting the issue and they have not found anything yet on their end.

Mac mini, macOS 26.2

Posted on Jan 23, 2026 9:50 PM

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Answer 1

Jeff Donald

Level 8

45,552 points

Jan 24, 2026 10:47 AM in response to joe1535

I suspect that’s the issue. Obviously, the bank is accepting the 16 digit number virtual card details. It accepted yours. Goldman Sachs wouldn’t care about two different accounts being drawn on the same checking account. For example I have multiple American Express accounts being drawn on the same account.

The work around is to use the Apple Card Scheduled Payment process.

Set up automatic payments in the Wallet app

How to make Apple Card payments - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Jeff Donald

Level 8

45,552 points

Jan 26, 2026 4:23 AM in response to joe1535

The Apple Card block of business is currently managed by Goldman Sachs and will continue to be for approximately the next 2 years. Sometime in 2028 JP Morgan Chase will take over issuing and servicing the accounts.

I’ve been very active in this community the last 4 to 5 years. There are literally a handful of posts about issues setting up Apple Card accounts for bill pay. Why? Because for the vast majority of account owners it just works.

The way to resolve this is to have someone in your banks bill pay department contact Goldman Sachs customer support. The two entities then should be able to work together to resolve the issue. If your bank refuses to assist that’s a sign to find a bank that offers better customer service. When I worked in the industry, that was how it was handled.

CONTACTING — Goldman Sachs Bank

Call toll-free at 877-255-5923

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

https://www.goldmansachs.com/terms-and-conditions/Apple-Card-Customer-Agreement.pdf

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Answer 3

joe1535 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 24, 2026 9:30 AM in response to Jeff Donald

The label is "account number". On my card I put in the virtual card number. (I did the same for my wife's card). It took mine but not my wife's. I confirmed this with my bank.

My bank has no idea what is going on. IT is looking into it. A supervisor at Goldman said he had run across this a couple of times and it was an Apple Wallet software issue. Apple claims it is not. Goldman and Apple keep pointing at each other. I have escalated the issue to supervisors at both Goldman and Apple and they still point at each other.

The only thing I have found, and brought up to my bank, is the number series of my wife's card is valid, but out of the norm for a Mastercard. My thought was that the bank had not included this series in their valid MasterCard account numbers. I am grasping at straws if you cannot tell.

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Answer 4

joe1535 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 25, 2026 11:42 AM in response to Jeff Donald

After almost 3 weeks of going around and around with my bank I decided to try another bank that I have an account with. I followed their Bill Pay procedures and received the EXACT SAME ERROR MESSAGE. That is when I contacted Goldman. There is clearly a coding error somewhere. Since the card is issued by Gold and I am paying a Goldman bank I assume that it is a Goldman problem. I think since Goldman has sold the Apple Card account they are not interested in dealing with this.

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Answer 5

Jeff Donald

Level 8

45,552 points

Jan 24, 2026 4:50 AM in response to joe1535

What format does your wife’s bank expect? After all, that’s their bill paying service, they should know what they want.,

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Answer 6

joe1535 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 24, 2026 7:14 PM in response to Jeff Donald

I don't do direct withdrawals. It is bad enough when a business gets hacked that they grab my SS, etc. I do not want them to have my banking info also. At this point, my plan is to pay off the card balance with Apple Cash and close the account. The 8-10 hours I have spent trying to troubleshoot this situation is not worth the card. There are many other options. Thanks for your comment.

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Answer 7

Jeff Donald

Level 8

45,552 points

Jan 25, 2026 5:42 AM in response to joe1535

That’s fine. No one is forcing you to do automatic payments. I think I’ve either misunderstood what you’re trying to accomplish or I’m not adequately addressing your concerns. But from what I’ve read in your posts the fault is your bank’s and not related to Apple or Goldman Sachs.

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Answer 8

Jeff Donald

Level 8

45,552 points

Jan 24, 2026 10:04 AM in response to joe1535

What type of Apple Card account is it? Is your wife a Participant (authorized user) on your account? Are you joint owners of one account? Do you each have your own account?

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Answer 9

joe1535 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 24, 2026 10:30 AM in response to Jeff Donald

She has her own Apple Card account. We have a joint bank account. The bank allows multiple entries for a vendor in Bill Pay. I have two entries for gas and electricity.

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