Some people treat Apple Pay like a bank account. They keep a balance of cash on this payment system and use it to pay off debts or accept money from friends.
A Redditor has a story that shows a potential pitfall of this strategy, especially if a large sum of money is involved.
A person calling himself Sometimesexaggerates starts by saying “I used Apple pay for purchases and big stuff etc or cover tabs for friends then theyd pay me back.” All well and good, but the amount grew to quite a bit: “I ended up having like 3k in a balance there.”
Then a problem emerged. “I lent someone money and they decided to pay me back thru Apple pay. I accepted it and unknowing to me a few days later they disputed the charge with their bank.”
That’s when things got hairy for this Redditor. “After that [CENSORED] decided to double dip on his account and Apple pay got the dispute the[y] decided to LOCK MY ACCOUNT WITH MY ENTIRE BALANCE.”
A person with a small amount in their Apple Pay account might find this inconvenient. For someone with more, like this guy and his $3,000, it’s a potential disaster.
Disputes related to Apple Pay Cash are handled by Green Dot, the company Apple contracted to take care of this payment system. And Green Dot is taking the draconian measure of locking the entire account while a dispute goes on, instead of just putting a hold on the disputed amount. It’s likely the person who started the dispute has also had their account locked.
Cancelling an Apple Pay payment
The person who disputed the charge in this example was able to do so through his credit/debit card company. That’s not always possible with every payment through Apple Pay.
When a money comes from the user’s balance, there isn’t an easy way to dispute a charge. It’s only possible to cancel a payment if the other person hasn’t picked it up yet. If they have already accepted the payment, Apple suggests “Try asking the person to send money back to you instead.”
If that doesn’t work, the next option is contacting Apple Support to talk to someone about the issue.
Anyone not feeling a touch leery about Apple Pay right now should be happy to hear that there an Apple Pay Summertime promotion going on now. And you’ll soon be able to purchase eBay items with this payment system.
