Apple Pay is a convenient way to make payments, and it is also more secure than using a credit or debit card because your card information is not stored on your device. If you are new to the payment method, it is easy to not understand what Apple Pay means when you make a payment and it says ‘Pending’. You have already made the payment so, what’s the holdup? Let’s know What Does Pending Mean On Apple Pay?
When a payment is pending on Apple Pay, it usually means that the other person has not yet accepted your payment attempt. Apple Pay can also show that the payment is pending because it hasn’t been sent to the servers yet due to network congestion or due to the Apple servers experiencing downtime. It may also be due to your bank, or your Apple Pay account pending identity verification for transactions of more than 500$.
How does Apple Pay operate? What is it?
Using their iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, customers may make purchases with Apple Pay, a contactless payment system. Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is used by Apple Pay to interact with payment terminals. You only need to hold your smartphone up to the terminal to make a payment, and it will be processed.
Although not all merchants now accept it, Apple Pay is still a highly practical and safe way to make payments. The fact that not all merchants now accept Apple Pay is a possible disadvantage of utilizing it. Additionally, in order to use Apple Pay, you must own an iPhone 6 or later, an iPad Pro, an iPad Air 2, or an Apple Watch.
Apple Pay shows ‘pending’ for a payment
If you have made a payment through Apple Pay, it may take a few moments for the payment to go through. You don’t need to do anything other than be patient and wait for the transaction to be fully processed when you notice that it is pending. If you don’t want to cancel the transaction, just be patient as it can take a little while to process. If it still shows pending, it is most likely the issue is caused by the following –
The recipient has not accepted your payment yet.
Most commonly, the merchant you have sent money to has not acknowledged your payment. This happens when the recipient has set manual accepting of payment on their Apple Pay app and is yet to accept your payment attempt.
Try calling the person you have sent the payment to and asking them about the payment. You can also propose they set their payment settings to ‘Automatically Accept Payments’ to prevent this from happening again in the future.
Following is the method to modify the payment settings –
- Open the Apple Wallet app.
- Just touch your Apple Cash Card.
- Hit “More” to learn more.
- Either “Manually Accept Payments” or “Automatically Accept Payments” should be selected.
Troubleshoot your network congestion
At times, your internet connection may be at fault. A slow or inactive internet connection can inhibit your Apple Pay transactions, and have them pending. Here’s what you can do in case of a bad network connection –
- Restart your router. The most common network troubleshooting trick, although effective, allows your router a fresh new start in providing internet to your phone. Restarting your router helps refresh its tasks and memories which must have been causing the problems.
- Connect to a different network. Switch on your mobile data or connect to a Wi-Fi network that’s not as slow to complete your Apple Pay transaction.
- Pause all downloads and other network users. This can help if you have a very slow connection, ask other members on the same network to get off the internet till your transaction is completed. Pause all ongoing downloads to give you maximum bandwidth.
Apple Services or Bank Servers are down.
Apple’s servers and your Bank’s servers need regularly scheduled maintenance now and then. Either of their servers experiencing a downtime may be the cause that your payment is pending. Servers usually are not down for more than an hour, be patient. Server downtimes may also be caused by major power outages among other technical difficulties.
If an Apple Pay payment is pending for too long, you might want to cancel it. This is only a good idea if the money hasn’t already been debited from your account since, if it already has, it might take up to three days for the money to be refunded to your account because your bank needs to verify the transaction and the cancellation before doing so.
Conclusion
Apple Pay is a convenient and trustworthy app that allows you to pay merchants quickly, and easily. Sometimes, the payment will show as ‘pending’; Don’t panic, be patient. Apple Pay shows pending most commonly because the merchant you are sending the money to, has not acknowledged your payment manually. Your network can also be a problem as Apple Pay requires a good Wi-Fi or mobile data internet connection to send and receive money. The merchant having turned on manual accepting of payments can be annoying, especially if they forget to check their Apple Pay. If the payment fails the money will be sent back to your account within three days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an Apple Pay payment remain ‘pending’?
It is most common for Apple Pay payments to remain pending for up to 3 days. If the payment stays pending for more than a week, contact the recipient or your bank to inquire further.
