How to remotely disable Apple Pay if you’ve lost your iOS device

Losing your Apple Watch or iPhone can be really sad and also quite risky as someone could gain access to important data, including Apple Pay. Of course, Apple has managed to make the Apple Pay service super secure, and enabled Touch ID or Face ID for payments. However, there’s still a small chance for a thief to access it, and it’s therefore better to disable Apple Pay on a lost or store iPhone or Apple Watch.

There are a couple of ways to remotely disable Apple Pay on a stoled Apple device, and remove all credit card information. If you’ve still got access to your Apple device, then here’s how to remove Apple Pay cards with ease.

How to remotely disable Apple Pay?

Before we get to the how-to part, here’s why you should consider disabling Apple Pay if you lose your iPhone or Apple Watch. Although Apple Pay is secure, and almost impossible to break into, there are chances that a hacker might gain access to your cards. A hacker could bypass the security around Apple Pay, and drain your accounts. Luckily, Apple has made it super easy to remotely disable Apple Pay, and to delete card details from your lost Apple device.

As soon as you’ve realized that your iPhone or Apple Watch is lost or has been stolen, you should get to work disabling Apple Pay. You can do this by using another iPhone that you may have access to, or via the Apple ID website.

Disable Apple Pay using Find My

This method requires that you have access to another iPhone, perhaps your partners or a family members. Follow the steps below to disable Apple Pay.

1) Launch the Find My app on the iPhone.

2) Select the lost device from the list.

3) Scroll down to find the Mark As Lost option. Tap on Activate.

Disable Apple Pay Find My app

4) Hit Continue, add a four digit passcode if you didn’t have a passcode enabled, and then tap on Enable at the top right corner.

Lost Mode Find My app

That’s it. Apple Pay is now disabled for that device. If you already had a passcode on your iPhone or Apple Watch, then it’ll be automatically enabled after you Lock your device using the Find My app. The device will show an alternative number or a message on the screen, payment cards will be suspended, and Activation Lock enabled.

Disable Apple Pay from iCloud

For those who don’t have access to an iPhone, you can simply head over to iCloud website and also enable Lost Mode for your stolen Apple device. Here’s how to do this.

1) From your desktop browser, head over to iCloud.com/find

2) Enter your Apple ID and Password to login.

3) Select the lost Apple device from the dropdown menu at the top.

Find My iCloud

4) Enable Lost Mode.

Once again, you can enter an alternative phone number and put up a message that will be visible to the person who has access to your device. The iPhone or Apple Watch will be locked with a passcode, payment cards will be removed, and Activation Lock will be enabled.

Remove card details from Apple ID website

You can also remove your card details by visiting the Apple ID website. Here’s what you’ll need to do.

1) Head over to appleid.apple.com from your browser and log in using your Apple ID.

2) Your Apple ID account page will be accessible to you now. Scroll down to find devices that are connected to your Apple ID.

3) Select the device you want to remove the credit cards from.

4) Click on the Remove Card option.

Remove cards from device on iCloud

The cards will be removed from your Apple Pay in a couple of minutes. If you find your lost/stolen iPhone or Apple Watch, you’ll need to re-add the removed cards.

Wrapping Up

The above methods will ensure that the person who has stolen your iPhone or Apple Watch will not be able to hack the device and get to your money. It’s always a good idea to disable Apple Pay if you’ve lost your device or if it has been stolen. We hope the above methods helped you in learning how to remotely disable Apple Pay.