Warning when chip & pin is required from too many Apple Pay payments

Feedback & Ideas
1

When I was using contactless card payments for every purchase possible, I would receive a warning message within the app that my next transaction would require chip & pin authentication to confirm that I am still in possession of the card.

To my knowledge, given that all banks seem to do this (albeit most without any warning), this is a regulation imposed upon the banks and not something they can control - which is fine.

However, what I’ve noticed now that I’ve switched to Apple Pay is that these same warnings are not appearing when my next transaction will require chip & pin. What’s worse is that there is no feedback whatsoever for Monzo blocking the payment through Apple Pay; The card reader, my Apple Pay device and the Monzo app simply act as though there’s just no scanning taking place - whereas contactless card payments provide decline feedback both on the card reader and within the Monzo app.

Picture this: it’s a chilly Wednesday evening and the local chippy van is in the village. You brave the cold for a bag of the crispy, greasy golden stuff, your stomach rumbling with every step as you briskly pass the Tudor houses and long-abandoned pub. You approach the van and order a hearty portion of donner kebab with cheesy chips - hold the curry sauce (it’s just not right with cheesy chips). You go to pay with your iPhone and tragedy strikes - it won’t scan. You wiggle and shimmy your iPhone up and down the reader to no avail. The cashier gives you a disapproving look as they withdraw their newspaper-clad offering. You hang your head in shame for the long walk home. Tonight, for dinner you will have only sleep.

A total dramatisation, for luckily I only lived round the corner and could return with my Monzo card, where upon attempting to use contactless, I received a card decline message on the reader and within the Monzo app. I instead used chip & pin and was on my way.

As a man who can’t bring himself to get a manbag, carrying fewer things in my pockets has great appeal. To be able to combine the front door key, the car keys and the debit card into the Wallet app on my iPhone is a dream worth striving for. However, if Monzo cannot provide any feedback for when my next Apple Pay transaction will be rejected, as they already do with contactless card payments, then that dream is effectively dead as I will always have to carry my Monzo card with me for fear of being caught short.

Addressing this issue would be greatly appreciated and would bring huge quality of life to my customer experience with the platform.

2

Apple Pay transactions don’t count towards your Contactless Before PIN limit, and aren’t affected by it in any way.

Mobile wallet transactions are authenticated by biometrics. Contactless transactions aren’t.

2 Likes
3

There’s no such thing as a “next payment needing a Chip & Pin” if you use Apple Pay. That’s why you won’t see a warning.

Edit: You have chip vans/shops that take contactless??? Luxury!

2 Likes
4

Any transactions via Apple Pay or Google Pay don’t count towards this limit.

5

I appreciate what you’re saying guys, but why then did the situation I detailed in the original post happen to me? Even when I returned with the card, contactless payment was not accepted and I instead was forced to use chip & pin.

6

Likely something wrong with the merchant’s configuration.

1 Like
7

Speak to Monzo and find out why. We can guess all night long about what happened. :sweat_smile:

8

I thought so too, but then the customer who came immediately after me used Apple Pay without issue. :thinking:

9

No idea, I’m afraid.

The virtual card in the phone is treated as a different payment device to the card in your hand so the state of one can’t and doesn’t impact the state of the other. Over and above that, Apple Pay is authenticated by TouchID or FaceID so the need to enter a PIN (I.e. authentication) is simply not there.

1 Like
10

You can, as long as you replace your front door key with a Homekit-capable smartlock, drive a BMW manufactured on the 1st July 2020 or later and use a bank supporting Apple Pay (like Monzo)!

On a serious note, this was just a merchant configuration issue. As others have said, a contactless payment via Apple Pay is considered as “already authenticated” due to the need to verify it with Face ID, Touch ID or passcode. There is therefore no counter to reset.