Cardo

Q: Can't add First Direct cards to Apple Pay

I've today picked up an Apple Watch that I'm using with my iPhone 5S.  Everything else seems to be working fine, however when trying to set up Apple Pay I'm getting absolutely nowhere.

I have both a Visa debit card and a Visa credit card through First Direct.  When I try to add either of the cards, I get to agreeing the terms and conditions after I've put in the card details (or taken a photo) and then I get the most useless error of "Card not added.  Contact issuer for more information."  I've been in touch with First Direct and they say there's nothing wrong on their end and to speak with Apple.  I've been on the phone with Apple for an hour (who initially said First Direct weren't supported!) and eventually got cut off when I was being escalated to a supervisor.  I'm currently waiting for a call back.

 

Has anyone experienced this and have any idea what's going on?  I've searched around for this error and the only mentions I've seen seem to end up with people being bounced back and forth between Apple and bank as they simply blame each other.

 

Not exactly a smooth operation here.  Looks like Apple and the banks need to sort their error logging better.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Aug 17, 2015 9:01 AM

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Q: Can't add First Direct cards to Apple Pay

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  • by Jonathan UK,

    Jonathan UK Jonathan UK Aug 17, 2015 9:19 AM in response to Cardo
    Level 7 (33,949 points)
    Apple Watch
    Aug 17, 2015 9:19 AM in response to Cardo

    Hi

     

    Someone else reported that they had their card activated by First Direct (part of HSBC) by phone - see this thread:

     

    HSBC Card Verification

  • by tightrope78,

    tightrope78 tightrope78 Aug 19, 2015 4:33 AM in response to Cardo
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 4:33 AM in response to Cardo

    I had difficulty adding my First Direct debit card to Apple Pay on both my Apple Watch and my iPhone 6 Plus. After adding the card it did not send a verification email, instead I was directed to call First Direct. The First Direct digital payment team can be contacted on 0345 850 4068. After calling the number I was taken through security and the call handler was able to manually add the card to Apple Pay once I had answered a personal question about the account (be warned, the question is quite specific!). Once it was added I had no problem using it, it's a pity the process is far from seemless though.

  • by Cardo,

    Cardo Cardo Aug 23, 2015 12:19 AM in response to tightrope78
    Level 2 (410 points)
    Aug 23, 2015 12:19 AM in response to tightrope78

    Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, I'm not even getting to the verification stage. As soon as I try to add the card, it gives the "card not added" error. No mention of verification. First Direct couldn't see anything on their side, so nothing to verify.

     

    Completely stumped on this one and Apple have been no help. Didn't even call me back, so that was a negative rating on the feedback they asked me to provide.

  • by fatboyslick,

    fatboyslick fatboyslick Sep 12, 2015 8:55 AM in response to Cardo
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Sep 12, 2015 8:55 AM in response to Cardo

    Did you get this resolved as I can't add any of my cards and get the same error you're reportong

  • by Cardo,

    Cardo Cardo Sep 12, 2015 9:25 AM in response to fatboyslick
    Level 2 (410 points)
    Sep 12, 2015 9:25 AM in response to fatboyslick

    Nope, never got anywhere.  We tried numerous times over a period of a couple of weeks with the same error, then the wife dropped her phone in a river.  So now waiting for new phones!

  • by Cardo,Solvedanswer

    Cardo Cardo Oct 4, 2015 11:56 PM in response to Cardo
    Level 2 (410 points)
    Oct 4, 2015 11:56 PM in response to Cardo

    An update to this in case anyone is in the same boat...

     

    Although all our accounts, etc. are in the UK, we were travelling in France when we tried to add the cards to Apple Pay, receiving the dreaded "card not added" error.  We tried again as soon as we arrived back in the UK and it worked without a hitch.  (We had tried to add using a VPN, but with the same error).

     

    Therefore, there must be some sort of geolocation limiting going on for adding First Direct (and probably HSBC) cards (I was able to add my Halifax card without any issues whilst in France), either by using IP or GPS.

     

    So... if you are having the issue we had, first make sure you're in the UK , and second make sure location services are enabled.

     

    Good luck!

  • by fatboyslick,

    fatboyslick fatboyslick Oct 5, 2015 1:17 AM in response to Cardo
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 5, 2015 1:17 AM in response to Cardo

    100% AGREE

     

    I was getting the error when trying to add HSBC cards when in the USA

    as soon as I returned to the UK it worked

  • by Matthew Hocker,

    Matthew Hocker Matthew Hocker Oct 19, 2015 10:41 AM in response to Cardo
    Level 1 (39 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 10:41 AM in response to Cardo

    I have had this problem as well but returning to the UK has not fixed it. In fact, I got into a farcical set of calls with First Direct where they refused to deal with the issue at all. I managed to get a senior Apple technician on a conference call with them to have him explain exactly what they needed to do and they - get this - refused to listen to him. I had to repeat everything he said because they would only listen to me!

     

    But even with my ventriloquist skills suitably tested, the First Direct people went so far as to say that, for the rest of time they refuse to take any responsibility for fraud on my account because there was someone else on the phone... begging the question of what happens when other people are in the same room as their customers who are on speakerphone? And in the end they refused to even say whether they listened to the advice of the Apple rep because they couldn't reveal their internal procedures. As an engineer, not being able to see where something is failing drives me crazy.

     

    I've had a long-running email trail with Apple on this as well. Here are some choice comments from an Apple rep. By the way, Apple reps have all been super helpful and cheerful (if a bit bemused) even in the face of the ridiculous behavior of First Direct:

    Regarding adding your First Direct card to the account, I’m sorry to hear that the CR manager there at the bank had to get involved, but also rather troubled by the fact that they are unable to escalate the issue to Visa on their end, as it violates their policies. The problem, according to engineering, is that it’s getting through the Apple systems okay, but we’re waiting on the Visa part of the card verification process. Once Visa gives the green light, everything should be hunky dory, and you’ll be able to use that card on the account. Since the bank works in conjunction with Visa for payments and everything else, I’m surprised that the bank doesn’t have a method of reaching out to Visa in cases like this (and I’m certain you’re not the only person trying to use a First Direct card to your device), there has to be some kind of method to add them… we just need the Visa side of things to return back to the Apple systems.

     

    To be frank on this case: Engineering gave us a clear “here’s where it’s failing, contact this group to get it resolved.” Since you and <rep name> have reached out to First Direct, and their response is that escalating the issue to Visa violates their policies, I’m a bit stuck. So, I’ll reach out to the engineering team again and let them know what’s going on, and see if there’s a workaround that could be feasible for you.

    Leter:

     

    The response I got from engineering was that the individual I was in contact with was the guy that worked with Visa on these matters, and if the bank had escalated on their end to Visa, and Visa was still having issues, they’d be in touch with him directly. The problem lies between First Direct and Visa, and First Direct needs to send a ticket to Visa to get this cleared up. The reason that we are unable to submit things to Visa on your behalf is because, a) we don’t have your security info, and frankly, we don’t want it, and b) Visa only accepts escalations from their partner issuers.

     

    The only idea of something that may work on your end, besides re-contacting the bank and having them forward the issue to Visa, would be to try signing out of the account, signing back in, and re-adding the card. That’ll force the card to be re-submitted to the bank, and hopefully get through the internal verification steps between the bank and Visa.

     

    In the end, nothing has been fixed. And because I'm a masochist, I just read these posts and figured I'd try again. So I'm on the phone with First Direct right now trying to get the card added "manually". I'm certainly not expecting much!

  • by DaveMeehan,

    DaveMeehan DaveMeehan Nov 28, 2015 8:40 AM in response to Cardo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2015 8:40 AM in response to Cardo

    This still doesn't work (late November 2015) even though I am located in the UK.  I successfully added both my First Direct debit cards when Apple Pay was first supported, but one of the cards gets occasionally declined when I try to make a payment.  I've removed and re-added it a couple of times, but now it refuses to add it again.

     

    The concept of Apple Pay is wonderful, but with this much friction to use on a daily basis its far easier to just get your card out of your pocket, as if you didn't carry it with you there would be no way to pay and you'd end up being accused of theft/fraud!

  • by roz54,

    roz54 roz54 May 18, 2016 1:15 AM in response to Cardo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 18, 2016 1:15 AM in response to Cardo

    This is a real issue for people abroad.  A good link and solution below - but in summary - switch off location services, use a VPN and then it should work.  However HSBC now may ask for a verification code so if your UK cell is not working you cna go back one screen and choose the option ' choose how to send code' and choose email instead.  Worked fine.