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
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!
Posted on Oct 4, 2015 11:56 PM