User profile for user: Gar Benedick
Gar Benedick Author
User level: Level 2
150 points

Sign in to Apple Pay account for European car rental payment

Greetings!

I am an American traveling in Europe. I made a car reservation through Booking.com and paid with ApplePay when I was in France. When I went to pick up the car in Italy, I tried to use ApplePay (using the same card) to pay for the insurance and received a notice: “Sign in to your Apple Pay account.

Please complete your Apple Pay payment to confirm your booking.”

How does one sign into ApplePay? I couldn’t figure it out, so I couldn’t make the payment. Has anyone ever had this happen? And how does one sign into your ApplePay account?

FYI, I have been using ApplePay from its inception with no issues ever. Also, I used it last year during my 3 months in France, Italy, Spain and in London with no issues. I have never seen anything about signing into ApplePay before. Anyone have any idea why this may happen? And again, how do I sign into ApplePay? Thank you!




[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Sign in to ApplePay

iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Oct 1, 2025 12:44 AM

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User profile for user: Jeff Donald
Jeff Donald
User level: Level 8
44,754 points

Posted on Oct 3, 2025 3:15 PM

That’s so odd, because there has never been a way to log into Apple Pay. The only other think I can think of is signing into the mobile account for the credit or debit card used to fund the transaction. Apple Pay and Apple are basically blind to all the transactions. Everything is encrypted and Apple doesn’t have the key to decrypt the data. Only your bank has access to the encrypted data.

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User profile for user: Jeff Donald
Jeff Donald
User level: Level 8
44,754 points

Oct 3, 2025 3:15 PM in response to Gar Benedick

That’s so odd, because there has never been a way to log into Apple Pay. The only other think I can think of is signing into the mobile account for the credit or debit card used to fund the transaction. Apple Pay and Apple are basically blind to all the transactions. Everything is encrypted and Apple doesn’t have the key to decrypt the data. Only your bank has access to the encrypted data.

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User profile for user: Jeff Donald
Jeff Donald
User level: Level 8
44,754 points

Oct 1, 2025 6:41 AM in response to Gar Benedick

Sounds like the car rental agency has peculiar payment options. Apple Pay is a service and not an account. It’s like asking you to sign into your Visa or MasterCard account, there’s no such thing.


I also have traveled fairly extensively in Western Europe and have never had a rental agency make such a request. My preferred agency is Avis, but on occasion have rented through Expedia and had no issue.


On a side note, I wonder if it wanted you to sign into your booking.com account?

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Sign in to Apple Pay account for European car rental payment

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