Not able to add funds to Apple Account using Prepay Credit?

[WhiteHeteroGuy]

Hi,

I am using Apple Iphone.

I am on three.ie prepay.

I used to (recently) be able to add my unused top-up balance as my Apple Account funds.

As in - I top up my mobile with €20. I use whatever over the next month and I transfer reminder of that to my Apple ID.

I tried adding it today (26/08/2023) and it was unsuccessful...

What has changed? Is this no longer going to work?

Cheers.

Andrzej

[Three_Stacey]

Hi @WhiteHeteroGuy and welcome to 3Community.

I'd love to look into this for you but I'll need a little more info, like when was the last time that you successfully used this way of paying. Also what error did you receive on the 26/08? Can you please talk me through the steps you took?

[WhiteHeteroGuy]

Hello Stacey,

On the iPhone I added my mobile number as payment method:

Settings > Apple ID, Cloud+, Media and Purchases > Payment and Shipping > Add Payment Method > Mobile Phone > Use This Mobile Number > Done.

Then You tap Edit in the top right corner and You use 3 horizontal lines (burger menu) to drag Your mobile number to the (almost) very top. Just below Apple Account and You click done.

Those steps only have to be done once.

Now imagine this:

My wife and myself both are with three.ie. We mostly call or text each other. Every 28 days we top up the phones by €20. This gives us free calls and texts to each other and free internet. We rarely call anyone else... So after 28 days we usually have a lion chunk (sometimes all) of that €20 left as our monthly balance. We need to top up again to continue using free calls and texts and get the free internet. Now we have €40 as our account balance in three.ie. So every couple of months I would go to the iPhone settings and add the funds to the Apple Account using the mobile phone.

To do that I would go to:

Settings > Apple ID, Cloud+, Media and Purchases > Payment and Shipping

In there I would tap on Apple Account > Add Money > Other > Click and type in the amount > Next

Then I would authenticate myself with the FaceID and few minutes later I would get a text message like this:

https://pasteimg.com/images/2023/08/28/IMG_942872610BDD-1.jpg

(Actual screenshot from wife's iMessages after sending €50 from her mobile phone to our Apple Account funds)

And once it was done if You looked at Your Apple Account you would have a funds balance next to it:

https://pasteimg.com/images/2023/08/28/Screenshot-2023-08-28-at-10.53.10.png

And You could then use the funds from Apple Account to pay for Apple Services like Apple Music / iCloud Drive and even Disney+ subscription.

We don't do it every month (sometimes we wait as long as 4 - 5 months) but as You can see in the screenshot above (the one with three.ie text message) the last time it worked properly was 21 June 2023 at 15:10.

Unfortunately that's not the case anymore. Now when I authenticate with FaceID I get this:

https://pasteimg.com/images/2023/08/28/Screenshot-2023-08-28-at-10.45.16.png

"Payment Method Required. Before You can complete this purchase, You must add another payment method."

Thanks for you answer if You could - please have a look at it, as You can see it worked for years (we started using this method in 2015 I _think_ but I am not sure maybe 2018...) but now it does not anymore.

I contacted Apple and they told me "Nothing has changed on our side. Please ask Your mobile provider."

Kindest regards.

Andrzej

[Three_Stacey]

Hi @WhiteHeteroGuy thank you for the detailed answer, it really helps. I just followed your steps on my own phone and it worked fine for me but mine is bill pay. Silly question but is your number still showing under payment methods in Payment and Shipping? Have you tried to remove it and re-add it?

I working on getting my hands on my son's prepay phone so I can test it there but in the meantime, I'm going to reach out to our 3Pay team to check if there have been any changes made to the service. 

[WhiteHeteroGuy]

Hi Stacey

Is it possible that this functionality was now blocked on PAYG on three.ie and is only available on BillPay now?

I have been using the same method for years on PAYG. Only recently noticed this issue. I am hoping its a temporary problem because if its not I will have to switch to another network that does not block this functionality.

As You can see on this screenshot here:

Both of our numbers are present on the screenshot under the Apple Account.

I removed and re-added my number on Sunday (yesterday 27/08/2023) as I had the same troubleshooting idea as you.

Can You check if it really took money from Your mobile account? When I had my PayPal account added along with my mobile numbers I thought it worked but instead it took money from my PayPal account and I had to ask Apple for refund.

Edit: I have my ooold iPhone 6S+ that was not updated in years now... I will try adding funds from the older version of iOS and see if it worked. IF it does - its not three.ie that has stopped the functionality - its the Apple iOS update that's to blame. I will update this post once I know the answer.

Edit 2: Finally the old iPhone charged to 2% battery and switched on. I was able to work on it while it was plugged in. This iPhone was not updated since 2019 or 2020 so there is no chance that iOS update messed it up. It must be Three.ie.

Kindest regards.

Andrzej

[johnie89]

Hello,

Everyone in my family is on Three Prepay and we are all having the same issue.  We cannot use our three mobile credit to buy apps on the app store.  It asks us to add an additional payment method in order to make the transaction and if we do so it charges our card rather than our three mobile credit balance.

When will this issue be fixed?  I have complained to three customer services numerous times.

[WhiteHeteroGuy]

Thank You for joining this thread Johnie.

I am hoping they did not blocked this functionality on purpose... I would prefer not to change networks but if they did this on purpose - I am switching to a network that did not block this.

Are all Your iPhones updated to the same / latest version? I am trying to resurrect my 6S+ to try and add funds to the Apple Account but the battery on that ancient device is not allowing me to turn on the phone. If I could test this on the older version of iOS I would know if its the latest iOS update that's to blame or some changes in three.ie.

Cheers.

Andrzej

[WhiteHeteroGuy]

Johnie,

Finally the old iPhone charged to 2% battery and switched on. I was able to work on it while it was plugged in. This iPhone was not updated since 2019 or 2020 so there is no chance that iOS update messed it up. It must be Three.ie. Confirmed 100%.

How long ago did the issue started for You? I know it worked in June 2023 and never tested since then.

Cheers.

Andrzej

[Three_Stacey]

Thanks, @WhiteHeteroGuy & @johnie89 I've reached out to our 3Pay team to get confirmation on whether the service is still available to prepay customers.  While I wait for a response can I please get you both to PM me with your name, number, full address and date of birth can I also get the below details for the phones experiencing difficulties

Phone number:

Phone make and model:

Software version:

Error received:

[WhiteHeteroGuy]

PM sent.

In addition to PM

iOS version 16.6

Error message in the post above.

Kindest regards,

AndrzejL