Apple Pay is down for some users forcing them to pay for purchases like a Luddite

Some social media users are complaining that they are unable to use contactless payment system Apple Pay to ring up a transaction using a Chase credit card. On Apple’s System Status page, it notes that Apple Pay is undergoing some maintenance at the moment and adds that some users in Maryland may have issues with the feature. However, the problem appears to be preventing Apple Pay users from hearing that satisfying “ding” indicating that their credit card has been accepted in other states as well.

Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge stating that his Chase card was declined when using Apple Pay. Patel noted that when he called Chase, the bank told him that the problem is an “unexpected Apple Pay upgrade” which matches the reason for the issue posted by Apple on the System Status page. Other Thread users weighed in complaining about the same problem including one poor (and possibly hungry) iPhone user who wrote, “Yup, Chase Apple Pay declined getting my baguette and vegan cheese.”

Considering that the weekend is usually prime time for shopping, we wonder whether Apple should have performed the maintenance on Apple Pay during a time when shoppers are less likely to be tapping their iPhones on POS (point of sale, not what you thought the abbreviation stood for) machines. For example, at 1 am PST (4 am EST), most Americans are sleeping and charging up their iPhone units.

If this is a problem that happens to you today whether you are shopping in Maryland or Massachusetts, or anywhere else in the U.S., there is the perfect workaround but only if you are up to doing this. Once your Apple Pay payment is declined, follow these directions precisely:

• Put your iPhone in your pocket.
• Reach into your other pocket and remove your wallet.
• Open the wallet and remove the Chase card that is connected to Apple Pay.
• Run the card through the POS terminal like you might have done years ago before Apple Pay was launched.

If this happened to you today, we’re sure you were sweating and trying hard to remember how you paid for purchases made before October 20th, 2014 when Apple Pay launched. But those with a memory of a bygone era have been able to pay for their purchases today by simply using their Chase credit card without bringing Apple Pay into the picture. Or, you could pay for your purchases with cash.