Apple Pay disabled because security settings on Mac were modified

[Billiejoe87]

Apple Pay was disabled on my Macbook Air due to a supposed security issue. For those that may not know what this issue is, it basically completely disables Apple Pay so you cannot use it or add any new cards.

I followed Apple's steps here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT209016

Nothing worked, and I resorted to updating to the latest Beta version of Mac OS Catalina to try and overwrite any system settings which may have been changed. This fixed the issue temporarily, however it came back not long after.

I have now removed BitDefender from my mac, disabled Malwarebytes Premium, removed Tuxera NTFS and removed Adguard for Mac (The full system wide version). For almost 12 hours now the issue has not come back and Apple Pay is working ok.

I strongly suspect Adguard for Mac as the cause of this, as it has a habit in the past of breaking things like the iTunes store and overstepping it's reach as a browser ad guard blocker. I am slowly re-introducing these programs to find out for sure, but am in 2 minds if I even need Bitdefender on a mac to begin with.

In the meantime it's worth keeping an eye on any of these programs if you have them installed as I have no idea whether a bug or some malware in one of these programs is causing trouble.

 

[Sital]

Of the items you listed I only have the full system Adguard installed (although I do have the free version of Malwarebytes). I haven't had an issue with Apple Pay on my MBP.

 

[yurc]

I dunno, but you might considering restoring your MBA on factory state via internet recovery. Do not forget disconnect all iClouds credentials before resetting your Mac and let’s see how it goes.

I am also using Malwarebytes, free version though.

 

[Billiejoe87]

Cheers for the replies.

I have had Malwarebytes Premium installed again running all day today with no issues.

I really think there is a clash somewhere with Adguard or even Tuxera NTFS which was causing weird issues with my bootcamp volume. Either way, it seems to be working ok now. I might add Adguard back and see if the issue returns.

I've read a bit about the problem and it can be pretty random when it occurs. Not having security updates turned on can even cause it.