Resolved Apple Pay fail

[richard13]

So I've been using my new Apple Watch for a few days now and everything seems to be working ok. I went to a merchant this morning and decided to try Apple Pay on the watch for the first time. I double-clicked the side button and it showed me my default card. I swiped over to the card I wanted to use and the watch was saying 'Ready...". Yet no matter how I tried to position the watch near the reader it would not work. Even completely upside down, millimeters from the reader. Nothing. I know that Apple Pay works at this merchant. In fact, I whipped out my iPhone X right there and made the payment with no fuss.

Is there some trick to using Apple Pay on the Apple Watch?

 

[parseckadet]

No trick, just touch the screen to the reader once it says ready. It's odd that your phone worked. How recently did you setup Apple Pay on the watch? In the watch app on your phone go to "Wallet & Apple Pay" and you will see your cards listed. Do any of them have any kind of status message such as "Activating" or "Processing" or anything like that (I forget the exact wording).

I would say try it in another day and if it still doesn't work you may need to talk to Apple.

 

[cappo3]

I tried it today for the first time and it worked flawlessly. I did not even need to go that close to the terminal, maybe 5 to 10 cm.

 

[richard13]

No trick, just touch the screen to the reader once it says ready. It's odd that your phone worked. How recently did you setup Apple Pay on the watch? In the watch app on your phone go to "Wallet & Apple Pay" and you will see your cards listed. Do any of them have any kind of status message such as "Activating" or "Processing" or anything like that (I forget the exact wording).

I would say try it in another day and if it still doesn't work you may need to talk to Apple.

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked and there was one card that needed to be activated and another one waiting to be added (for whatever reason this card keeps failing even though I am using the correct "security code"). I verified the first and removed the 2nd from my wallet. Neither of these were the one I was trying to use though.

Now that I've resolved these possible conflicts I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[eclipse01]

No trick, just touch the screen to the reader once it says ready. It's odd that your phone worked. How recently did you setup Apple Pay on the watch? In the watch app on your phone go to "Wallet & Apple Pay" and you will see your cards listed. Do any of them have any kind of status message such as "Activating" or "Processing" or anything like that (I forget the exact wording).

I would say try it in another day and if it still doesn't work you may need to talk to Apple.

i wouldn't literally "touch" the screen to the reader.

 

[MisterSavage]

No trick. If your cards have been set up properly you might be looking at faulty hardware. I stopped using Apple Pay on my iPhone once I got an Apple Watch because it's just so convenient.

 

[iamasmith]

I've had a few times the thing isn't picked up at all but if I cancel the payment and double click again it usually sorts it out.

 

[aloper]

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked and there was one card that needed to be activated and another one waiting to be added (for whatever reason this card keeps failing even though I am using the correct "security code"). I verified the first and removed the 2nd from my wallet. Neither of these were the one I was trying to use though.

Now that I've resolved these possible conflicts I'll try again tomorrow.

Hopefully, it will work out now...One thing to keep in mind is that the issue could be the reader at the store. I’ve been using Apple Pay via my watch and phone at my local grocery store for a few years now but every few months, I get a no go using either...When I ask about it, the cashier will mention it hasn’t been working right that day or something similar...so I have to use my physical card...

 

[xraydoc]

I’ve had a few times where my watch wouldn’t work but the phone did at a couple merchants, even though the watch is 100% functional. I can only assume it’s that particular machine at that merchant — weak NFC antenna or something.

 

[richard13]

Oh thank you so much for everyone's additional suggestions/comments. Yes, this may be a case of the merchant's POS equipment having a weak antenna. In fact, I usually have to wave my iPhone over it trying to find the "sweet spot". I'll try other places as well. I truly hope this watch doesn't have a defect. It has performed exemplary otherwise!

 

[richard13]

So today I got out for a bit and tried Apple Pay on my Apple Watch at Target and it worked! Tried it again for lunch at Chick-fil-a and it worked again. So I guess I just had bad luck on my first try (or clearing card issues and rebooting did it). Either way, I'm happy I don't have to swap my watch out. Thanks again for everyone's help!

 

[lartola]

No trick. If your cards have been set up properly you might be looking at faulty hardware. I stopped using Apple Pay on my iPhone once I got an Apple Watch because it's just so convenient.

Faulty hardware on his end, that is. If it were faulty hardware on the store’s end the iphone would have failed too, which it didn’t. The iphone made the payment just fine.
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I’ve had a few times where my watch wouldn’t work but the phone did at a couple merchants, even though the watch is 100% functional. I can only assume it’s that particular machine at that merchant — weak NFC antenna or something.

I’ve noticed that ingenico move 2500 standalone POS terminals (rarely used in the US, but widely used to replace older verifone vx 520 terminals elsewhere) tend to have a rather weak antenna and I tend to get read errors if I’m not careful enough on where and how I hold the apple watch near the terminal.

 

[MisterSavage]

Faulty hardware on his end, that is. If it were faulty hardware on the store’s end the iphone would have failed too, which it didn’t. The iphone made the payment just fine.

Yes, that's what I was trying to indicate.

 

[richard13]

I’ve had a few times where my watch wouldn’t work but the phone did at a couple merchants, even though the watch is 100% functional. I can only assume it’s that particular machine at that merchant — weak NFC antenna or something.

I went back to this merchant this week and was able to make my purchase with the watch but had to fuss with it quite a bit. Also, should mention that although my iPhone works here it's also a bit of a hassle. It is definitely the POS equipment. Even the employees told me you have to get it just right for it to work.

 

[lartola]

I went back to this merchant this week and was able to make my purchase with the watch but had to fuss with it quite a bit. Also, should mention that although my iPhone works here it's also a bit of a hassle. It is definitely the POS equipment. Even the employees told me you have to get it just right for it to work.

Yeah, some devices have weak antennas. Here in Mexico many merchants use the ingenico Move 2500 wireless terminals, which replaced the verifone vx 520s they used before (see pictures below), but the move 2500 has a weak NFC reader that leads to having to fuss around with the phone or watch quite a bit. I get read errors fairly often when paying on those move 2500 devices. The older verifone vx520 devices worked so much better.

INGENICO MOVE 2500 POS:

VERIFONE VX520 POS: