Can’t Add Card to Apple Pay? Check these Fixes!

It’s frustrating when you can’t add a card to Apple Pay. There are a couple of reasons why this may happen—and most are easy to fix.

Fortunately, there are many ways to fix this problem. This guide walks you through several troubleshooting steps to fix it when you’re unable to add another card to Apple Wallet.

Reasons Why You Can’t Add Card to Apple Pay

Before we get into the troubleshooting tips, let’s review the Apple Pay requirements. To add a card to Apple Pay, you need to meet certain conditions.

Card not supported: Check with your financial institution (such as your bank) to see if Apple Pay is compatible with your card.
Apple Pay servers could be down: Check the Apple status page for updates on the Apple Pay service.
Apple Pay is not available in your region/country. Check if you’re in a supported country.
Your device is not compatible with Apple Pay: Check this list of devices compatible with Apple Pay to see if yours is included.
You need to be 13 or over: If you’re younger than 13 years old, Apple Pay isn’t available, and you can’t add a card to the Wallet app.

Now that you know the requirements to add a card to Apply Pay, it should make it easier for you to pinpoint the problem and find the appropriate fix. Let’s get to it.

How to Fix When You Can’t Add a Card to Apple Pay

Here are all the tips that will help you fix it when your iPhone shows the “Can’t Add Card to Apple Pay” error message:

Check Your Internet Connection
Turn Off VPN Connection
Check for Unsupported Regions
Contact Your Bank Issuer
Delete Extra Cards
Update OS
Check Apple Pay Status
Factory Reset Your Phone

1. Check Your Internet Connection

Even when your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi, there may not always be an internet connection. The same thing may occur if you’ve enabled mobile data but have limited bandwidth.

Launching your browser and performing a website search can quickly check your internet connectivity. It is best to restart the router or turn off and back on Wi-Fi and mobile data, to resolve connection problems.

2. Turn Off VPN Connection

Using a VPN is convenient, but it has its drawbacks when it comes to Apple Pay. In some cases, VPN connections can interfere with Apple Pay, especially if the server is located in a region or country that does not support Apple Pay.

This is mostly for security reasons why Apple doesn’t let you use Apple Pay when you have an active VPN connection.

If you still have problems adding a card to Apple Pay, disable your VPN connections and try again.

3. Check for Unsupported Regions

As of this writing, Apple Pay is not available everywhere. You can’t add a card to Apple Pay if you’re in an unsupported country. Check to see if your country is on the list of countries that support Apple Pay.

Follow the steps below to check the region of your Apple device.

Open Settings and then select General.
Tap Language and Region.
Navigate to Region and select your region.

Language & Region — **Choose language & Region.** Screenshot: Farhad Pashaei/Gotechtor

There are a few areas where Apple Pay isn’t available. If you moved your device or Apple ID to a non-supported country, you must change the region.

Here’s how to change the region to a supported country:

Open Settings and tap on your Account Name.

Tap on your name in Settings app-1 — **Tap on your Apple ID.** Screenshot: Farhad Pashaei/Gotechtor

After choosing Media and Purchases, look for View Account.

View account in Apple ID — **Select View Account.** Screenshot: Farhad Pashaei/Gotechtor

Enter the password for your Apple ID.
Select your region by tapping Country/Region.

Country Region in View Account — **Select Country/Region.** Screenshot: Farhad Pashaei/Gotechtor

You must cancel all active subscriptions before changing your Apple ID country. To do that, go to Settings, click your account name, and select Subscriptions. Select the subscription(s) on the page and tap Cancel Subscription.

4. Contact Your Bank Issuer

If you receive the message “Your Issuer Does Not Yet Offer Support for This Card” when you try to add a card to Apple Pay, you need to contact your card issuer.

Issuer not supported card Apple Pay — **No Apple Pay support message**. Herby Jasmin/Gotechtor

To view a list of banks that accept Apple Pay in your country, tap Learn More. If your bank is on the list, but you can’t add your card to Apple Pay, you should contact your bank for support.

5. Delete Extra Cards

If your device has reached the limit for the number of cards it can store, you cannot add a new card to Apple Pay. On iPhones 8 and later, users can add up to 12 cards. You can add 8 cards if you have an iPhone 7 or older.

The only way to add a new card to your current wallet, if you need to, is to remove the cards you use the least and then add the new card.

Head to the Wallet & Apple Pay settings menu on your Apple device, select a card, and press Remove Card to delete a card.

6. Update OS

You might be unable to add a card to Apple Pay due to a software bug. The operating system may be the main cause of this. Don’t worry. Apple has a solid track record of regularly updating its software to address bugs.

Here’s how to update your iPhone:

Tap on Settings, then select General.
Now select Software Update.

Software update in General menu — **Select Software Update.** Screenshot: Farhad Pashaei/Gotechtor

You will notice the Download and Install option if there is a pending update.

7. Check Apple Pay Status

If you still can’t add a card to Apple Pay after updating your device, there might be a problem with Apple Pay.

Visit the Apple System Status page and see what color Apple Pay is. Green indicates that Apple Pay is working.

Launch the browser and go to Apple’s System Status page.
Visit Apple Pay & Wallets to verify the status of the service.

Apple Pay and Wallet status — **Check Apple Pay & Wallet service.** Screenshot: Farhad Pashaei/Gotechtor

The service is available if the sign is green. As a result, you must implement the changes listed below to repair the problem.
The servers are offline if the indicator is red. You’ll have to wait till the problem is fixed.

There is nothing you can do but patiently wait for the servers to be operational again if Apple Pay is down from the server side. Here are the instructions for checking the status of Apple Pay and its services.

8. Factory Reset Your Phone

Any bugs causing issues are removed by resetting your iPhone to factory settings. The drawback is that you’ll lose every piece of data on your iPhone or iPad.

Therefore, before giving your phone a full reset, we advise you back up all your data to prevent data loss.

Launch Settings, then select Reset iPhone or Transfer.

Transfer or Reset iPhone in General menu — **Tap on Transfer or Reset iPhone.** Screenshot: Farhad Pashaei/Gotechtor

Choose Erase All Content and Settings.

Erase All content and settings — **Select Earase All content and Settings.** Screenshot: Farhad Pashaei/Gotechtor

Tap Continue and enter your passcode on the following page.

Wrap-Up: Can’t Add Card to Apple Pay

Restrictions on cards and regions have previously been addressed, but it’s important to note that you cannot add an expired or blocked card to Apple Pay.

To ensure there are no restrictions or limitations on your card, get in touch with your bank. Even if the problem could be coming from your device, there’s a good probability the card has some problems.

We hope the tips in this guide were useful and you can now use Apple Pay to make payments.

If you have any feedback or questions, then please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.