Apple Pay’s 2014 Closes With a New Glitch, Repaired Shortly Thereafter

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how recent Apple’s rise to payments prominence really was on just about every front.

Apple Pay, for example, is rapidly becoming one of the biggest names in the field when it comes to mobile payments, which is why it’s a bit distressing to hear about a new glitch in the system, one that had plenty of people concerned as it seemed to crop up after using a fix fairly common in the field.

The glitch in question came about when users reset their iPhones to factory settings, a fairly common early-stage fix for quite a few problems the iPhone can encounter.

Thus those who recently picked up iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus models were quick to turn to this standby solution when encountering problems on the new devices. But the problem was, once the iPhone was reset, Apple Pay responded by not allowing users to add cards to the system, a major problem for Apple Pay, which all but relied on new cards to be taken seriously in the field.

Worse, the problem wasn’t readily fixed by several standard methods, including restoring from backups or even starting fresh. For a while, the only solution seemed to be the complete replacement of the iPhone itself, but new reports emerged that suggested the fix might have been simpler than was believed at the time.

Early reports pointed to a problem between the near-field communications (NFC) systems and the factory reset operation, with some trying quick deletes and re-adds on cards to no ill effects. Less than a week later, meanwhile, reports emerged that the problem was no longer a factor, with some pointing toward a quiet Apple update that fixed the problem as it was known.

What all this ultimately proves is that even Apple is fallible, and is capable of experiencing such bugs and errors in the system.

This particular one was fixed comparatively quickly, and likely with minimal impact on the user base. But it also illustrates the importance of vigilance when it comes to mobile payments. While this particular glitch didn’t lead to much more than concern and inconvenience, another glitch may leave users vulnerable to identity theft or the like.

Such a glitch, were it to occur, would likely be fixed in fairly rapid fashion, but it just serves to remind us all that even Apple hasn’t been at this all that long, and can still make mistakes.

Still, though, it’s clear that this particular glitch neither lasted long nor hurt many, and that’s the good news about the whole affair. But it should serve, ultimately, to remind us all how important it is to keep a close watch on mobile payment systems, lest our use of said systems come back to haunt us.