How to complain to Apple Pay
Payment disputes are governed by the Payment Services Regulations 2017, which are unusually favourable to the consumer: the refund obligation for an unauthorised payment bites by the end of the next business day, and the burden of proving you authorised a payment sits with the provider rather than with you.
The rights that apply when you complain to Apple Pay
Apple Pay is a UK payment provider, so the rules below are the ones that decide your complaint. Each is named, because a letter that cites the specific rule is handled by a different team to one that does not.
- An unauthorised payment must be refunded by the end of the next business day after you notify the provider, and the account restored to the state it would have been in. The provider cannot withhold the refund pending its investigation unless it has reasonable grounds to suspect fraud by you. Payment Services Regulations 2017, regulation 76
- The provider must prove the payment was authenticated, accurately recorded and not affected by a technical failure. Use of your credentials is not, on its own, proof that you authorised it. Payment Services Regulations 2017, regulation 75
- You can withdraw consent to a recurring payment at any time up to the end of the business day before it is due, by telling either the payee or your payment provider. Your provider must act on it. Payment Services Regulations 2017, regulations 67 and 68
- Where a payment is not executed, or is executed late or to the wrong account, the provider must refund it without undue delay and trace the payment on request. Payment Services Regulations 2017, regulations 91 to 93
- A payment services complaint must get a final response within 15 business days, extendable to 35 only in exceptional circumstances, which is much tighter than the usual eight weeks. FCA Handbook, DISP 1.6
The deadlines that decide your claim
Next business day — the refund obligation
The single most useful deadline in payments. Report the unauthorised payment and the refund is due by the end of the next business day, not at the end of an investigation.
13 months — the outer limit
Notify without undue delay and in any event within 13 months of the debit date, or the right to a refund is lost.
15 business days — the final response
Payment services complaints get a final response in 15 business days, extendable to 35 in exceptional cases. Then the Financial Ombudsman is open to you.
What to put in the letter to Apple Pay
Complaints teams work from a script. The detail below is what moves a case off that script and onto the desk of someone who can authorise a remedy.
- The transaction ID, date, amount and beneficiary for every disputed payment.
- The date and method by which you withdrew consent, if this is a recurring payment you had cancelled.
- An explicit request that the provider refund under regulation 76 by the end of the next business day, and that it evidence authentication under regulation 75 if it refuses.
- A note that you will refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman after 15 business days.
If Apple Pay says no, or says nothing
Escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
When you can go: After the final response, or after 15 business days for a payment services complaint.
How long you have: Six months from the final response letter, and normally within six years of the event.
What it costs: Free to you. The firm pays a case fee.
Whether it binds Apple Pay: Binding on the firm if you accept the decision.
Worth knowing before you start
A digital wallet is not always the payment provider. Where a wallet simply passes a card through, the disputed transaction belongs to the card issuer behind it, and the complaint and any chargeback go to your bank rather than to the wallet operator. Check which entity actually took the money before you decide who to write to.
Common questions
The provider says it will refund me only after its investigation. Is that allowed?
Generally not. Regulation 76 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017 requires a refund of an unauthorised payment by the end of the business day following notification. The only exception is where the provider has reasonable grounds to suspect you acted fraudulently, and it must notify the FCA if it relies on that. Quote regulation 76 and ask, in writing, whether the provider is asserting that exception and on what grounds.
I cancelled a recurring payment but it went out anyway. Whose problem is it?
Your payment provider’s. Regulations 67 and 68 let you withdraw consent to a recurring payment by telling either the payee or the provider, up to the end of the business day before it is due, and the provider must act on it. A payment taken after consent is withdrawn is unauthorised, so regulation 76 applies and the refund is due by the end of the next business day. You do not need the merchant’s agreement.
My wallet payment went wrong. Do I complain to the wallet or the bank?
Look at the statement. If the transaction appears on your card or bank account, the card issuer or bank is the payment service provider for that transaction and is where the complaint and any chargeback belong. If money left a balance held with the wallet operator itself, the wallet operator is the provider. Writing to the wrong one costs weeks, so check first.
A payment went to the wrong account. Can I get it back?
Tell your provider immediately. Where you gave the correct details and the payment was misexecuted, regulation 91 requires the provider to refund it without undue delay. Where you gave the wrong details yourself, regulation 90 obliges the provider to make reasonable efforts to trace and recover the funds, and to tell you if it cannot so you can pursue the recipient directly.
Where this comes from
Every rule on this page is drawn from primary legislation, a regulator, or an approved dispute resolution scheme. Check them yourself.
Paybacker is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. It is a summary of the published rules that apply to a payment provider, so that you can put your own case properly. For a dispute of real value, or anything turning on facts unique to you, speak to a solicitor or Citizens Advice.
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