Aussies urged to update their Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay digital wallets to avoid New Year’s Day payment glitch mayhem

Australians who rely on digital wallets to pay for everyday goods and services are being urged to update their debit card details before midnight.

More than a third of consumers who don’t use cash are now making in-person transactions using smartphone digital wallets via Apple, Samsung and Google apps.

But a glitch affecting 60,000 accounts means their debt card, linked to their bank account, will need to be re-added to digital wallets so customers can make payments on January 1, 2025. 

The Australian Banking Association and Australian Payments Plus or AP+ are urgently advising customers to remove the card linked to their digital wallet and reinstall it if they have received a notice from their bank.

This affects debit cards linked to a digital wallet that have been used during the past three months. 

AP+ chief executive Lynn Kraus said customers simply needed to just delete and re-add their card on their mobile device.

‘I urge anyone who has received a message from their bank to update the debit card on their mobile wallet to do it today,’ she said.

‘Removing and re-adding your debit card is a quick fix that will ensure EFTPOS payments process as normal from 1 January 2025.’

Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh said only a small number of consumers were affected.

‘Whilst banks have been proactively reaching out to the small group of customers impacted, some are yet to take the required action,’ she said.

‘It’s a straightforward process that will only take a matter of minutes and will ensure your debit card can continue to make payments into the new year.’ 

AP+ released a statement on December 18 warning that about 60,000 cards would not automatically update on the digital wallet.

Card issuers, including banks, have since contacted customers telling them how to re-adding their debit card. 

The Reserve Bank estimates 35 per cent of debit and credit card transactions are done via a digital wallet, up from 10 per cent in early 2020 during the start of the Covid pandemic. 

‘Debit card payments are more likely to be made using a mobile wallet than credit card payments,’ the RBA’s annual payments report said.

Just 13 per cent of transactions are now done in cash, compared with 76 per cent for cards, with this figure including those paying by plastic or a digital wallet linked to a debit or credit card.