Issuer Features
Discover the benefits, enablement steps,
and resources to get started.
Card Continuity and
Multi‑Device Provisioning
Simplify card setup on new and existing Apple devices
Offer cardholders a secure, frictionless way to instantly provision eligible cards across all their Apple devices. With Card Continuity, trusted cardholders can easily and securely provision existing cards to a new iPhone without manually re‑entering their card’s security code. Multi‑Device Provisioning prompts cardholders to add their card to other iCloud‑connected devices with just a few clicks. Together, these features enable instant use, giving cardholders the ability to immediately spend with their cards in Apple Pay on any Apple device they choose.
Cardholder experience
Card Continuity
Multi-Device Provisioning
Fraud protection
Apple Pay is built with security and privacy at its core. Every step is designed to protect cardholders and reduce the impact of fraudulent activities for issuers.
- Issuer‑controlled authentication: Card Continuity and Multi‑Device Provisioning keep authentication firmly in the issuer’s hands, defining which verification methods made available by Apple may be used by cardholders when adding a card to Apple Pay.
- Risk assessment backed by Apple insights: Apple employs a proprietary risk‑based authentication model to determine if a cardholder needs to add a security code when provisioning a payment card.
Learn more about Apple’s Fraud Protection for Issuers.
Get started.
Enable Card Continuity and Multi‑Device Provisioning
- Partner with us.
- Adhere to Apple Pay’s guidelines:
- Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR)*
- Apple Pay Fraud Guidelines*
- Follow payment network operator (PNO) implementation guidelines (including Network articles and bulletins listed below).
- Avoid unnecessary ID&V step‑ups during provisioning.
- Contact your PNO account manager for setup and testing.
- For help contacting your PNO, or if you have other questions about Apple Pay, contact Apple Pay Partner Support.
Explore the resources
Requirements and guidelines
Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR)*
Apple Pay Fraud Guidelines*
Network articles and bulletins
Visa Business News (VBN), Visa bulletin AI14202
Mastercard Cloud Tokens bulletin AN10827.1 (global) and AN10998.1 (U.S. and Canada)
*Available after Apple Pay partner onboarding
Frequently asked questions
Card Continuity allows a cardholder to easily and securely provision their payment cards from a previous iPhone to a new one during setup — just by signing into their Apple Account.
Multi-Device Provisioning allows a cardholder to easily add a card already provisioned on one Apple device to their other iCloud-connected, eligible Apple devices.
Card Continuity and Multi‑Device Provisioning deliver several benefits to issuers on the Apple Pay platform:
- Help drive top‑of‑wallet behavior by enabling card transfers to new devices easily, without losing the card’s default position in Apple Wallet.
- Enable uninterrupted card spend, allowing cardholders to use their payment cards across all eligible devices.
- Help reduce provisioning fraud by leveraging issuer‑controlled verification and Apple’s proprietary risk-based authentication model.
Yes, the Card Continuity and Multi-Device Provisioning features are a requirement for all issuers on the Apple Pay platform. Refer to the Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR) for details.
Card Continuity and Multi‑Device Provisioning are available in all markets where Apple Pay is live today.
This feature can be enabled as part of a new or existing Apple Pay implementation. As with other Apple Pay features, Apple does not charge implementation fees for its enablement.
In order for a cardholder to provision a card using Card Continuity and Multi‑Device Provisioning, their devices need to meet the following requirements:
- For a card on the Discover network: iOS 16, watchOS 9, iPadOS 16, and macOS 13 or later
- For a card on the Mastercard or Visa network: iOS 18.4, watchOS 11.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4 or later
When a cardholder signs into their Apple Account during a new iPhone setup, they are prompted to provision the payment cards they had on their previous iPhone, without needing to enter the card’s security code manually. During provisioning, the cardholder agrees to the issuer’s terms and conditions and completes any additional issuer-required verification.
When a cardholder provisions a card to Apple Pay on one device, they are prompted to add it to their other iCloud‑connected, eligible Apple devices.
Yes, all Apple Pay provisioning features are designed to protect cardholders and reduce the impact of fraudulent provisioning activity for issuers. Card Continuity and Multi‑Device Provisioning keep authentication firmly in the issuer’s hands, enabling them to define the verification logic and determine additional authentication steps when deemed necessary.
This is supplemented by Apple’s proprietary risk-based authentication model, empowering the issuer to make a more informed approval decision while reducing friction for trusted cardholders.
Learn more about Apple’s Fraud Protection for Issuers.
Yes. Issuers can choose from various verification methods (such as in‑app verification, email, and SMS) to validate card ownership by a cardholder. This validation happens before issuers approve a card provisioning request. Refer to Card Verification Methods for more information.
Multi-Device Provisioning requests are held until the cardholder completes any additional verification required by the issuer on the source device. If additional verification is not completed within the allotted time window, the destination requests are canceled.
To enable Card Continuity and/or Multi‑Device Provisioning, issuers should follow the implementation guides from their payment network operators.
- Mastercard: Refer to Mastercard Cloud Tokens bulletin AN10827.1 (global) and AN10998.1 (U.S. and Canada)
- Visa: Refer to Visa bulletin AI14202
Refer to Enable Card Continuity and Multi-Device Provisioning above for more details.
Join the Apple Pay platform.
More resources
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In the US, Apple Pay is a service provided by Apple Payments Services LLC, a subsidiary of Apple Inc. Neither Apple Inc. nor Apple Payments Services LLC is a bank. Any card used in Apple Pay is offered by the card issuer.
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Apple Pay is not available in all markets. View Apple Pay countries and regions.
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Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages and may require specific hardware and software.