Apple Pay experienced a significant global outage on Friday, May 16, 2025, leaving users unable to make purchases or access funds. The disruption began at approximately 8:14 PM IST and affected related services, including Apple Wallet, Apple Card, and Apple Cash. Apple's System Status page indicated that the issues were resolved by 10:31 PM IST.
With over 745 million users worldwide, including more than 60 million in the US, Apple Pay is a cornerstone of the company's digital ecosystem. While Apple did not specify the number of users impacted, it acknowledged that "some users may have experienced an issue with this service."
Outage-tracking site DownDetector recorded over 2,000 user reports in the US, with complaints focusing on payment failures and difficulties transferring funds. Frustrated users took to social media platforms to express their concerns and seek information.
DownDetector's outage map showed widespread Apple Pay issues in major US cities, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, as well as smaller-scale outages in the UK and parts of Europe, affecting users' ability to make transactions and access funds. Widespread disruptions were reported across America.
Hundreds of Apple Pay users reported issues on DownDetector and social media, with many receiving an error message stating, "Cannot receive payments sent with Apple Cash at this time."
"This is the problem with handing everything over to the technocracy. Apps and services run on #ApplePay, and when it goes down... transactions completely stop," commented a user.
"Apple's Response? Do you think Apple should be more transparent about outages like this? How quickly should they acknowledge and fix the issue"? wrote another user.
'Apple Pay being down is the ultimate example of why a cashless society is dystopian. Cash must live on so we are free'. wrote a third user on X (formerly known as Twitter).
