Problem with Vodafone Wallet

[theoldsilverfox]

I have set up smartpass and wallet on my s4 (not rooted) all was ok untill I had a sim change (the new nfc one), now smartpass will not load and wallet opens with a message saying "Unable to open wallet. you recently swapped your sim card. your new sim may take 15 mins to register. please try again later. error C1075.  That was 6 days ago. since then I have uninstalled the apps reinstalled them, and then out of frustration a factory reset on the phone. nothing works, so i am not going to spend money on that card till its sorted.

I have made 3 calls to customer services, no one in India knows what "Wallet" is. The first one put me through to smartpass who said that its nothing to do with them and i should speak to customer services, so I phoned again and told the person not to put me through to smatpass as its the Vodaphone Wallet department i need, she put me through to smartpass............aghhhaaah. the 3rd call (now been on the phone for 55mins) told me that he would find the answer to my problem, 10mins later he gave me a telephone number for the people to sort out the problem with the app, when I phoned the number, it was Transport for London. Vodaphone are known for there poor IT but there must be someone that knows how to sort this, but i have no idea how to contact them. HELP PLEASE!!!!!

[hrym]

I wonder if it's something as simple as a faulty SIM?  Can you get another one and try that?   I'm concerned that Customer Service were unaware of the Wallet app, as the number for support on that is 191 (Smartpass has a separate, dedicated team).

It may not be the same thing, but I recently found I couldn't update the balance on my Smartpass.  The solution was to log out and log back in again.

[phil194]

hi i have the same issue changed sim card today for NFC wireless sim and the vodafone wallet says UABLE TO OPEN WALLET..

WE ARE SETTING UP WALLET ON YOUR NEW SIM CARD THIS SECURE PROCESS CAN TAKE UP TO 15 MINUTES... this has now been 4 hours tried on Wi Fi and on data no joy... Contacted 191 and put me through to Smart Pass who do not deal with techy questions any Help thanks

[Sukhi]

@phil194

If you've already tried uninstalling the app and rebooting it and this hasn't resolved the issue, we'll need to have a closer look at what's happening.

As we can't access your account via the eForum, please come and speak to us on Live help so we can look into this further for you. 

[phil194]

hi i spoke to someone yesterday from vodafone and they told me my phone was not compatible with NFC card... I have a samsung Galaxy Note 4 which is one of the compatible phones mentioned on the smartpass website... I have also seen that your account must be of the new type??? dont know if mine is... it has now been 24hrs since upgrading my Sim to an NFC one and still not working... Anyone help

[theoldsilverfox · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your thoughts, I have already tried replacing the Sim, I have another contract and the same message keeps appearing with that one as well.
As I explained no one at 191 knows anything about wallet or who to connect you to to get an app problem sorted. It's not on there script and when they put me on hold to speak to there supervisor they come back and connect me with smartpass, and they do not know anything about wallet and tell me to phone 191. And so the endless loop continues.
My advice to any one thinking of getting involved with this service is don't. Wait until PayPal do it, I'm sure they will get it right from the start, and not make you have a sticker on the back of your phone with a different account from the one you already have.

[hrym]

If you've got the NFC SIM, you don't need the tag - the app can use your built-in NFC.  One final thought: you are setting the app up over mobile data, aren't you?  It'll operate on wifi once it's up and running, but the initial set-up won't work that way.  If it's not that, I'm all out of ideas.

[theoldsilverfox]

After long conversations with smartpass they inform me that there is no way of using any phone's inbuilt NFC even with the new NFC sim card, to make payments, the only way to use Wallet is with the pre-pay visa card, and have the sticker on the back of it. It is also worth noting that any money paid into that card cannot be removed in cash, the companion card will not work in any cashpoints. Although cashback in a supermarket might work. Vodafone have my card and bank details so they can collect there money each month it seems madness not to be able to use that to charge for NFC payments. The advantage of the paying with the phone is that is closer to my hand than my wallet most of the time, and if the card ever got cloned the most anyone would get away with is the £50 I put on it.

As for setting up the app over 3g, that has already been done, the app won't open at all now, on wi-fi or 3g. I just get the message about waiting 15 mins and the error code. but thanks anyway.

[hrym]

That's very odd.   I didn't think NFC SIMs were being issue unless you fulfilled all the requirements for compatibility which include (as far as I remember):
Being on Vodafone's updated billing system

Having a device running Vodafone software (ie supplied by Vodafone rather than SIM-free)

Having a device certified as compatible

The NFC SIM, in spite of its name, doesn't do the connection bit but contains the secure element necessary to meet the requirements of the card issuers.   If all the above elements are in place, then your phone becomes a virtual card and you can abandon the tag.  My phone isn't fully compatible, so I'm still using the tag, which I simply slip into the phone case.  And, yes, its pre-pay aspect is attractive.

I'm not clear, and I don't think any of the explanations you've received get you any further forward, why the Wallet app is stalling and I suspect the next stage would be to get a replecement SIM.  In view of what Smartpass have told you, it might be worth going back to a standard one - though it might be worth asking which bit of the compatibility requirements it is you're not meeting.

[heppie89]

Having the same issue with wallet after getting my NFC sim activated. Any solutions to this?