Reliable option for Apple Pay

edcldn

I use Apple Pay a lot. I find it convenient to pay with my watch - and it’s my way of paying for my commute in London. But every now and then it goes wrong. This happened today and my watch payment was declined in Asda, and then also when I chipped and pinned for the same card. The issuer, Halifax, says it’s because every now and then you have to chip and pin but I chipped and pinned only yesterday. I don’t really understand.

Is there a card issuer that is better than the others for this kind of majority of the time use of Apple Pay?

Thanks

cymruchris

As far as I know all card operators do the same with Apple Pay - one way around it might be that from time to time when you're in no rush, and have all the time in the world, you pay by card with chip and pin when you want to, rather than it flagging up when you're in a rush to get something done. I imagine it'll be based on some kind of algorithm though that looks at your usual spending pattern - and if it falls outside of that pattern - it might be more likely to request a pin check. (that's my best educated guess). 

[Deleted User]

If someone stole your watch / phone they could run up a huge spending spree quickly via contactless (yes it might well be refunded but it's still a pain) - that is why the system has brakes and requires chip and pin either "randomly" or if the system thinks you're doing something unusual

Sandtree

Deleted_User said:

If someone stole your watch / phone they could run up a huge spending spree quickly via contactless (yes it might well be refunded but it's still a pain) - that is why the system has brakes and requires chip and pin either "randomly" or if the system thinks you're doing something unusual

But the reason watches/phones dont have any limit, unlike the now £100 for contactless, is because other than for TFL they require authentication for each transaction - faceID, TouchID or PIN. Yes they could get your PIN from you but then that's the same as if they stole your card and forced you to give the PIN over. 

Have to say that since finally getting a smart phone in Octoberish time I've exclusively used ApplePay with my AmEx and Virgin cards and haven't used chip and pin since then and not on either have I been asked to. 

edcldn

Exactly this, Sandtree. If the watch is taken from my wrist Apple Pay stops working immediately.

Interesting and good you haven’t had an issue with it stopping working. Which issuer(s)?

jon81uk

Deleted_User said:

If someone stole your watch / phone they could run up a huge spending spree quickly via contactless (yes it might well be refunded but it's still a pain) - that is why the system has brakes and requires chip and pin either "randomly" or if the system thinks you're doing something unusual

No they can't.
Apple Pay requires your TouchID or FaceID or passcode everytime you use it, or on the watch enter your PIN every timeyou put the watch onto your wrist. It is just as secure as chip and PIN.

There is no requirement to use the phyiscal card every so often, I can't remember the last time I used the PIN with my physical credit card.
The issue is just as likely to be with Asda as it is the card. I used to have an issue where Apple Pay would never work at one branch of Burger King but it worked everywhere else without issue.

impoverishedtraveller

Deleted_User said:

If someone stole your watch / phone they could run up a huge spending spree quickly via contactless (yes it might well be refunded but it's still a pain) - that is why the system has brakes and requires chip and pin either "randomly" or if the system thinks you're doing something unusual

No… sorry, this is just wrong and clearly written by someone who doesn’t have or use Apple devices.

Apple pay on watch or phone only works on devices that are locked with a passcode.

if a watch is lost or stolen, ApplePay will only work if it’s unlocked with a passcode, and ApplePay can only be enabled with a passcode set.

if a phone is stolen, ApplePay will only work if the phone is unlocked by faceId, or passcode, and ApplePay can only be enabled with a faceId or passcode set.

Sandtree

edcldn said:

Exactly this, Sandtree. If the watch is taken from my wrist Apple Pay stops working immediately.

Interesting and good you haven’t had an issue with it stopping working. Which issuer(s)?

As I said, AmEx and Virgin... the former is 99% of transactions and the later the 1% that dont take AmEx

cymruchris

To be fair I also have an Apple Watch - and as above - as soon as it’s removed from your wrist it won’t allow Apple Pay to function again until the pass code is entered on the watch face. I haven’t been out in physical shops that much over the pandemic / but where I have used it (at the post office/screwfix/tool station/fish and chip shop) I’ve not yet been asked to go chip and pin. 

nyermen

For what its worth, I use it pretty much exclusively via my HSBC mastercard.  I dont remember ever having it declined, and I rarely use my physical card as a result.  This includes using it abroad, albeit I probably always pay the hotel bills with the card itself.  Didnt have any issues last 2 years with no foreign travel.

I should add - not sure what "using card and pin" proves - as the watch is a separate device.  I get requiring pin every so often on a contactless card.

Spaceace

I use Apple pay very regularly with a Halifax Clarity card both in the UK and abroad. I've never (yet) been asked to use the physical card or had the Apple pay declined and had to use the card.  

I very rarely use the card itself and I trust it so much that in the UK I don't carry the card just my phone.

I'd guess that it was an Asda problem and when you called Halifax they either misunderstood the question or just didn't have an answer and so gave the standard line about having to regularly enter the pin when using 'normal' contactless to prevent fraudulent losses if the card is lost/stolen.