Why does the Epoch Times show up as the merchant on my Apple Pay notifications from time to time? The amount of the charge is accurate but the Epoch Times was not the merchant. I have never purchased anything from the ET.
iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 26
I'll use Apple Pay from my wallet to access an Amex card to pay a merchant and then sometimes I receive a notification that the merchant was the Epoch Times. If I check my Amex account it lists the correct merchant.
Your Wallet app and Apple in general have no knowledge of your transactions or the merchants involved. This is the privacy that Apple Pay provides to you.
The identity of the merchant is not supplied by the card issuer, American Express in your case. The information you see is derived from GPS and WiFi positioning data.
I have a small travel related business. Many times when I complete a transaction at my location, a large doctor’s office next door appears as the merchant.
The misassignment you describe is interesting. However, I haven't noticed any other incorrect merchants listed other than the Epoch Times. I also don't believe that the Epoch Times owns a business or property near the merchant that was most recently misidentified. And, after searching the topic, I noticed that some others have noticed the Epoch Times listed incorrectly as the merchant on their iPhones.
Where exactly are you seeing it showing up? Is it in your Apple Account in the Settings app or in your Wallet app?
Who is the notification from? Wallet app typically doesn’t send notifications. What does the American Express card in the Wallet app display as the merchant?
It shows up in my wallet. The Amex card in my wallet shows the incorrect merchant, but my Amex account shows the correct merchant.
Epoch Times incorrectly listed on Apple Pay notification as the merchant.
