Apple Developer Account Not Being Activated

Many people have tried to purchase an Apple developer account, but it did not get activated. Despite the many times I tried to activate my own account, it failed.

I have contacted Apple support, however, their only answer was

“ We have been unable to obtain payment for your recent Apple Developer purchase, we would advise contacting your financial institution for more information”.

I contacted the bank, no records were found for Apple purchase. Eventually, I managed to activate the account, follow up with the steps I’ll mention below.

Make Sure Your Information is Accurate

1- Make sure your personal information is correct; name, address, etc.

2- The Credit / Debit card you’ll use must be registered with your name.

3- Enable two-factor authentication in your Apple device (that would be your mac or iPhone)

4- Make sure you have a valid payment method registered in your device

if you follow the common steps mentioned by Apple, then you’ll reach to this screen (DON’T Click Purchase yet! ):

Before you Click Purchase

At this point (hopefully it’ll work) go to your payment settings. Even if you think your card information is accurate, just update it before clicking purchase.

In mac your payment settings would be in:

• System preferences > Apple ID (an icon under search bar)

Then, go to:

• Payment & Shipping

Put your CVV /CVC code (it’s on the back side of your credit / debit card) and click save. Once you are done updating your payment method go back and click “Purchase” the Apple Developer account.

Note that, when you were in process of purchasing your developer account, there was no field to put CVV / CVC code. However, you added that in payment settings and that might be the reason payment not being received by Apple.

In Case it Did Not Work

if your account still pending, and you get the same reason that the problem is with the bank not from Apple. Then, purchase any app using the same credit / debit card you used for Apple Developer account and buy any app from app store (most likely will cost you $0.99).

Once you receive a bill for the app you purchased, send a copy of it along with your complain to apple support team. By doing so, you give evidence that your credit / debit card is valid and you used it to purchase from their app store.

I hope you will succeed the next time you try, wishing you the best.