Cannot add cards back to apple pay after restoring.

Hi all,

I have had a most frustrating day - but finally got a case open with AppleCare and escalated to an engineer and have been given a point of contact and case number.

I had (until yesterday) an iPhone 5S with an Apple Watch which I was using a Lloyds debit card registered with ApplePay absolutely fine, however since doing a backup and restore to my iPhone 6S (9.0.1) I now get the 'Card cannot be added' message. I have tried everything posted here, factory reset, setup as a new phone, iTunes backup restore , iCloud backup restore and still the same issue. Over wifi, 4G still the same response error. Called Llloyds bank who checked everything, fraud, max registrations and more - nothing all absolutely fine. I was given the number for AppleCare (and some 3hrs later) now have a case raised with them.

I can add my wife's debit card to my iPhone without any issues (my card wont register on her device iPhone 6), therefore the service is working and can authorise - however not for my card which is also a Lloyds debit card! I have finally had to accept there is a backend issue at ApplePay and the tech has put my iCloud account into troubleshooting mode so they can investigate the issue further.

As soon as I know more and have anything which may assist others, I will of course post back.

Matt

Hi Matt,

Thanks for that — I'm in pretty much exactly the same boat, although in my case it's Halifax, not Lloyds. But they're essentially the same banking group and I believe use the same systems. A look at the similarity of their Twitter feeds and phone numbers seems to confirm that.

I'm beginning to suspect the problem lies with Lloyds/Halifax, after doing an experiment... My iPad had Apple Pay successfully set up for in-app purchases. Tonight, I removed my Halifax card and it will *not* re-add. The iPad hasn't been restored or touched in any way. The only change I can think of since I added the card to the iPad has been the upgrade to iOS 9 (and then 9.01).

I find it hard to believe that ALL Apple Pay users aren't able to remove and re-add their cards. I'm sure there would be more activity on Twitter and these forums if that were the case. That leads me to point the finger at Lloyds/Halifax... In the meantime, I urge anyone reading this with a card from Lloyds banking group successfully set up in Apple Pay not to remove it if at all possible. If my experience is anything to go by, you won't be able to re-add it, regardless of whether you're restoring a backup or using an existing device.

In the past 24 hours, I have gone from having my Halifax card successfully set up for Apple Pay on my iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad, to NONE of them!

I too will keep pursuing this with both AppleCare and the bank.

Neal

Unfortunately I have the same error and my bank is Simple (issued by Bancorp) so its definitely not bank specific.

Yeah, I'm now sorry for blaming the bank. I've just been on the phone to them again and was put through to the level 2 support team. They can log into Visa's bank-wide system. The guy could see my previous successful Apple Pay pairings (he called them "tokens"), but that they were deleted and could not be reactivated without a valid registration request from the device, whether it be iPhone or iPad.

He seemed quite clued up and felt that it was a problem with Apple, or at least Apple servers' communication with my bank. It seems unlikely that all banks are affected though, or I imagine there'd be more about this on the web.

So, next stop on the phone merry-go-round was AppleCare. This time, the rep had already heard of a similar issue, and ruled out a defective device because I'm unable to re-add Apple Pay to either my new iPhone or my older iPad. Unfortunately, for today, I ran out of time because the phone support closes at 8pm UK time. The guy is calling me back in the morning, and "escalating" the case. I know that others have been down the same path already but hopefully if more of us keep at it, the problem will get fixed sooner rather than later.

I'll report back on tomorrow's contact with the "escalated" representative.

So I'm now in the same boat as a couple of other people earlier in the thread. I've got a case number from AppleCare and my account is in the hands of the engineers. Apple is pretty sure it's a server issue that's possibly related to restoring from backup to my new 6s. Definitely ruled out as a hardware problem though, because I can't remove and re-add my card to Apple Pay on my iPad either.

I'm getting a callback on Tuesday afternoon, once the iCloud engineers have had a chance to check things out. I live in hope! Will report back.

hI

I am having exactly the same problems having deleted my LloydsTSB card and the resetting my phone and trying to put card back on. It was all working fine before deleting.

Spent nearly two weeks now and hours on the phone to apple and the bank and no one has sorted it out!!

I am an apple geek but have to say rubbish support from Apple on this and the bank are even worse!

Dave

It's interesting that it seems to be a server issue between Apple and only certain banks. So far in the thread, I've seen Lloyds, TSB, and Halifax from the UK, which are all the same banking group. The Halifax rep confirmed to me that they share the same backend system. I also saw someone having the problem with a US bank named "Simple".

In my dealings on this, Apple seem to have taken ownership of the problem, rather than the bank. As I've mentioned, their engineers are looking into my issue and I've been told I'll get a call back with more information (hopefully a resolution) tomorrow afternoon.

I certainly hope that the issue gets solved more widely than just my own case -- I wouldn't want everyone to have to spend the amount of time on the phone between the bank and AppleCare that I've expended over the past couple of days!

I've had the exact same problem - though I have 4 cards with Lloyds. 3 have added fine and the 4th one (my main one) refuses to add. I've normally been very positive about Lloyds customer support but I have to say they've been decidedly average this time.

Hi guys

Also having this exact same issue. Cannot add it to iPhone 6S or Apple Watch. Added it fine to the Watch this morning after re-pairing. Apple made me unfair during troubleshooting so it's no longer working on that either now. Also rang Halifax who confirm everything is working on their end.

Apple are ringing me back tomorrow to see if setting up as new works but it obviously won't; then they'll escalate to engineering.

I found this thread from this MacRumors article: http://www.macrumors.com/2014/12/31/apple-pay-credit-card-failure/ dated from December 2014!

So whatever's going on, they still haven't fixed it and if it is a hardware fault at the Secure Enclave level they haven't fixed it in the new 6S. That article mentions the only successful resolutions have been getting replaced phones.

What a mess.

Evening all,

Quick update for you all, I got a call back from Apple support today (Robin) well voicemail. Seems this has been escalated and been advised this has been acknowledged this is indeed an Apple back end issue (confirmed). No surprise here!

I am waiting on further updates and hopefully now a few of us have got open case refs this will get resolved soon.

Soon as I hear more I will update. At least we now know this is not a bank issue.

Regards

Matt

Good work, Matt. Thanks for the update. As I've said, I'm getting my engineer callback tomorrow — it probably won't be a fix just yet but at least Apple has taken firm ownership of the issue.

I'd urge new visitors who've found their way to this page to please:

1. Leave your device alone. Do not bother restoring/setting up as new in an attempt to get Apple Pay working again. It's a royal pain and a waste of time.

2. Call AppleCare on 0800 107 6285 (from the UK), and report the issue. It won't hurt to point the rep to this thread!

Spoke to Apple Support this evening, they checked my account and found no issue.. they suggested to speak to a supervisor at Lloyds Bank and seems to think its a verification issue as I can add other cards. I explained my other cards are the same bank but they seem to think that I should speak to Lloyds and see if they can look into it further.

So yeah Apple Support were not helpful

@dn2004

My first call to Apple was similar — I was pointed to the bank and/or my local Apple Store. The 2nd-level support guy (in Ireland) was a *lot* more clued up and was able to dig into my iCloud account etc. He was "90 per cent sure" it was an Apple server-side issue.

Edit: After some perseverance, I also managed to get through to the higher-level Lloyds/TSB/Halifax Apple Pay tech people the other day. The guy said the bank is effectively stuck unless they receive a verification request to their servers from the device. They were getting nothing when I tried to set it up, including no signs on the bank-wide Visa Europe system. Despite us getting some initial poor advice, it really does look like the issue originates with Apple.

thanks, will wait and see

Apple called back again this morning. It's getting escalated to engineering like you guys.

Hope they can fix it with a software update. If it is problem with the Secure Enclave not clearing properly I don't know how they'll fix it.