Phone ID (like all of Apple Wallet). Support asks for the phone’s serial number as a security check. And, the text support is iMessage-based so linked to the iCloud ID: apart from basic set-up I don’t think the SIM and phone number would make any difference.
@alexjohnson, thank you so much for this detailed post. This is the sort of real-world experience that’s extremely valuable to know about in advance of a trip or before fussing with a ghost transaction.
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in Italy, I came across my first problem: a PIN.
I’d heard that you can put in 0000 if you need a PIN and one isn’t assigned to your card, but I never tested this when I was in Europe last year as I found that using ApplePay was vastly easier than any card.
Interesting! Thanks for the tip. :) I’ll have to try that next time I’m in Europe. One of my CCs has a PIN, the other doesn’t and the issuer refuses to assign one. 
Very simple question, can you use your Apple Cash balance to pay off your Apple Card balance?
No, you can’t directly use Apple Cash to pay Apple Card. I plan to transfer Apple Cash to my bank and pay the card from my bank account.
Thanks, Doug.
One more question, is this an NFC vs. Apple Pay thing or do payments with Apple Pay in general not show up to confirm at the bottom of the screen? I was under the impression you get alerted to merchant and amount at the bottom of the screen (like the panel you get when you pay off your balance or purchase on the iTS) when you’re asked to authorize payment. Instead, when I tried it for the first time yesterday, I simply was asked to touch my TouchID. Only after I had authorized the purchase did merchant and amount show. I realize you can check the NFC terminal’s display for amount, but seeing it right on the iPhone when authorizing to me would feel more natural.
To keep my financial records in order, my general plan is when adding the statement information to my personal finance program (Moneydance), to also transfer the Apple Cash earned to my checking account (classifying it as a Bank Credit (like rewards from other cards)) and schedule payment later in the month.
I have no idea; I have never paid attention to what the iPhone screen says beyond it showing that it’s ready for a tap and that the transaction is completed. As far as I know, Apple Card works like every other Apple Pay transaction I’ve made in the past.
Thanks, @ddmiller.
Just as an update, I did an online transaction on my MBAir today, paying with Apple Pay from my iPhone, and the amount and retailer did show up on the bottom of the iPhone display before I approved it. I’ll pay attention next time that I make a transaction at a point of sale terminal.
Oh great. So I wasn’t imagining things after all. 
I wonder when that shows up and when not. So far I get the impression that payments with Apple Card at a NFC terminals unfortunately doesn’t trigger it.
You can pay off your Apple Card balance using Apple Pay after all.
When you choose to make a payment to Apple Card, there is at the bottom an entry with your bank account. If you click on that there is the option to choose other sources of payment. There you’ll find an option to use Apple Cash. Once that is selected, your Apple Pay balance will be used first and the remainder of the Apple Card balance is then charged to your bank account.
I noticed on my wife’s iPhone, that feature only becomes available once you’ve verified your identity for Apple Cash. Before you do that, the slider for using Apple Cash to pay off Apple Card balance is grayed out.
Nice find. I didn’t use the card until after Sept 1, and my first payment isn’t due until Oct 31, so I just hadn’t done a full payment cycle yet. Thanks for the instructions.
Has anybody else here run into trouble using Apple Card for payments abroad?
I recently ran into an issue when trying to book a hotel in Japan. The hotel received my card no., CVC, and expiration data. They came back saying there was an issue with my card and they could not charge it. We then tried giving them my wife’s Apple Card no., CVC, and expiration date. They returned again saying they could not charge the card.
Since this happened twice with different Apple Cards I feel rather certain we got the card details right and that it wasn’t just a momentary glitch. I proceeded to then give them the details of another Visa credit card I have with my bank and that worked just fine. So WTH?
It’s not just you. Tom’s Guide’s Caitlin McGarry had trouble too.
Thanks for that link, Josh.
Interestingly, like in that report I was also told by the Apple Card specialist (who I contacted later) that my card had actually not been declined at all, or at least it wasn’t showing that way on their end. So I also had this suspicion that it was related to card network issues, rather than my actual card being declined. I’m a bit surprised, because I used to use a Mastercard all over Europe and that worked just fine. Maybe Japan is different. Indeed, in the past in Japan I tended to use Visa. I also wonder if maybe not all Mastercards are created equal. I’ll definitely be carrying both a Visa and a Mastercard in addition to my Apple Card. Because I know we are still a far way from being able to tap our phones everywhere. Sit-down restaurants in the US is a nice example.
On a related note, this weekend I just experienced another Apple Card issue at Banana Republic and a nearby hotel while on a business trip. BR allowed me to tap my iPhone just fine at the cash register, but their mobile units that they use to check you out when they have long lines at the cash registers do not work. Those devices don’t support NFC so they need an actual card for that. Of course that also means 1% vs. 2% cash back. At the hotel I later ran into another issue. I had a prepaid room so they only needed my card for incidentals. They couldn’t use Apple Card there either because they didn’t actually swipe the card. Turns out they enter the card no. into their terminal and then also manually enter exp date and CVC. Of course none of that is printed on the Apple Card. Sure, that information is displayed in Wallet, but how comfortable would you feel dictating all that information to a clerk while he punches it into his system? Anybody within earshot could take note. I guess I could have showed him my iPhone screen, but it was easier to just hand him my Visa.
The same thing happened to me last night. A few hours after I reestablished the freeze on my credit report, TransUnion reported a second inquiry by Goldman Sachs was rejected. When I was opting out of arbitration, I asked about the second inquiry, but the customer service rep seemed kind of clueless, suggesting I contact TransUnion to find out what was going on.
Anyway, the article below might explain what’s happening. When you apply for the card, only a soft inquiry, which doesn’t affect your credit score, is made. I think that after you accept the card offer, Goldman Sachs does a second, hard inquiry to indicate you applied for new credit.
Today I noticed that while every merchant gets listed under Apple Card with an exact location and time of purchase, Apple itself just bills as Apple. No mention if it’s Book Store, iTunes Store, App Store, physical Apple store, nothing. Just Apple. Well we have Family Sharing on which has this annoying habit of charging everything to one card and that before an email receipt is sent out. So if my wife makes a purchase, I’ll have a charge show up on my Apple Card out of the blue with just “Apple” but zero indication of what or who.
Either Apple should specify in Wallet more exactly what they’re charging or they should ensure their receipt emails go out before charges get invoiced. Ideally they should do both. But their present method is junk.
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