Warning for those wanting to add their card to Apple Pay

[RichardB]

Hi, I recently got the free Avios card, but had to call Barclaycard to add the card to Apple Pay (rather than the usual text verification). After over a half an hour wait, the person who answered told me that Avios cards were not yet eligible for Apple Pay. I queried this as I’d seen posts on here saying they were now available for Apple Pay, and even there was a Twitter post from Barclaycard in June saying so! After much more waiting (about an hour in total), I was told some cards were still not compatible and if you only get the option to call Barclaycard to activate, your card is not eligible. Basically they can still not activate it their end, it has to be the customer (and I didn’t have the option).

They could not give me a date when this would change. So a waste of over an hour of time and still no option to add to Apple Pay! Although not the end of the world, I often don’t carry a wallet these days – as I suspect lost of people don’t, so you might have to be prepared to go back to carrying one just to use this card!

[Carlos]

Use curve

[RichardB]

Carlos wrote:

Use curve

Useful suggestion thanks – although I don’t have Curve and didn’t really plan to get one, particuarly now they have limited the free card so much, but I might consider it.

[PeteM]

Have you tried adding it through the Barclaycard app? Has worked for me and others in the past: https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/apple-pay

[RichardB]

PeteM wrote:

Have you tried adding it through the Barclaycard app? Has worked for me and others in the past: https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/apple-pay

Thank you so much @PeteM ! This has solved the problem, something Barclaycard failed to do in over an hour!

For anyone else who reads this in the future, if you have tried to add the card via Apple Wallet and got ‘stuck’ in the verification stage, you will not see the option to add to Wallet via the Barclaycard app (as I assume the Barclaycard app removes this option when it thinks the card has been added via Apple Wallet, and it can’t see it’s not successfully verified). Therefore, you have to delete the (non-verified) card via Apple wallet, and then this option will appear in the Barclaycard app.

[PeteM]

Glad to have helped – it’s crazy how awful the Barclaycard phone support is…

[RichardB]

It’s a finely tuned process of extensive waiting times, and seemingly having no accurate advice available when you do finally get to speak to someone! Thanks again.

[craig816]

Hi,

I have the same issue, just got the new Avios Plus Barclaycard, however I have deleted the partial attempt to add it to Apple Wallet, but I don’t get the option to add it in the Barclarycard app. Any ideas?

I am an exiting Barclays Current Account customer, and in the Barclays app I can add my debit card (but can’t see my Barclaycard in the Barclays app, only in the Barclaycard app)

Thanks in advance for any help!

[PAUL7331]

I too spent hours on the phone and numerous attempts trying to get this to work. After two weeks though I can finally add the card to Apple wallet, although could only do it via downloading the barclaycard app alongside the Barclays app that I already had. After two or so weeks I could finally add it. So strange!

[QFFlyer]

I had the same issue – wouldn’t send the verification code to SMS and support were useless. After 4/5 days, once the app based secure code thing started working, I could add it via the app and the codes started arriving to my phone when requested, so I think it just takes a few days to set itself up.

[bakayaro]

PAUL7331 wrote:

I too spent hours on the phone and numerous attempts trying to get this to work. After two weeks though I can finally add the card to Apple wallet, although could only do it via downloading the barclaycard app alongside the Barclays app that I already had. After two or so weeks I could finally add it. So strange!

It took a week for my Barclaycard to get added to the Barclays app and then a few more days for the add to apple wallet function to appear. So its just a case of waiting.

[livetofly]

Thanks for the great advice! As others was having same issues with Barclaycard not being activated through Apple wallet – customer service said known problem they are trying to resolve but offered no solution. Deleted from Apple wallet and went via Barclaycard app route – for some reason option to add Apple Pay wasn’t showing through the banking app but got there in the end! Roll on 125,000 avios!