Cards are not lost, just sitting on the server 
Restore by adding again
Anybody could have seen this one coming. When Apple Pay Suica launched in 2016 we had 2 things: the iOS 10.1 update and the Apple Pay Japan service launch all coming at the start of a Tokyo commute weekday. Lots of iPhone users decided to upgrade and add their Suica to Apple Pay. By 7am local Tokyo time Mobile Suica and Apple Pay iCloud servers were overloaded and not responding.
This time we had 3 things: Apple Pay Octopus, the iOS 13.5.1 update and Apple Maps Hong Kong Transit all launching at the same time. By 11 am Octopus servers were overloaded and not responding, the usual ‘small number of users’ were complaining on Twitter far earlier than that. Duh, so much for anticipating iPhone user demand. Octopus Cards Limited has posted an apology and instructions to fetch Octopus cards lost in the cloud. It a simple matter of adding the Octopus card to Wallet again. In some cases Octopus customers are getting refunds.
At least we know the launch was a success in that lots of iPhone and Apple Watch Hong Kong users apparently want to use Apple Pay Octopus. I guarantee this will drive mobile payments use far more than regular bank cards. Riding the transit and buying stuff with Express Transit is a no brainer.
You must be logged in to post a comment.