Seeking updates on Apple Pay disappearing payments

Cat222-ZS wrote:

I can’t find the link but I did see the video when it aired. A number of craft vendors at events were scammed. Apparently the charge appeared to go through but a short time later it disappeared as though it had never happened.

I believe this is the report you are referring to from KTLA. This is a Youtube link so not sure if it will be removed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbYdnsf2o9o

From the report it was only those that used Square and Square blamed the vendors. They would hold up their phone like they were using Tap to Pay and either not tap it or not approve the transaction and tell the vendor that they used Tap to Pay. Either the terminal failed the vendors or the vendors believed them saying they used Tap to Pay.

It does not specify Apple Pay was used and Android phones support Tap to Pay as well. I suspect if there was a problem with the Square terminal software, they quietly resolved it as there has been nothing I have seen reported since.

This is the first I’ve heard of this. Sounds like a technical glitch on Square’s part. It’s certainly not a scam. I don’t see how Apple Pay is involved, other than the transaction initiated with a tap-to-pay.

I suspect if you ask this question on Square’s public forum, there’s past comments you can read and people that may have been involved that may comment.

That’s interesting because I use Tap-To-Pay with Square for all credit and debit card transactions for a non-profit I’m director of. We’ve never had an issue and our SOP is to check transaction balance after each sale. Also a receipt must be generated. I suspect the merchants were using Square to conduct offline credit card transactions. The report was too vague to understand what was actually happening.

Do you have a link to the report? Were Apple Pay and Square linked somehow in the report? No one reported an issue in regard to “disappearing payments” in these forums, as I recall.

Square allows offline transactions. This permits collecting the transaction data when the iPhone / device is not connected to the internet (offline) and the data being submitted within 24 hours.

Not sure if offline transactions are on by default but it wouldn’t surprise me.