To change your primary (default) card on Apple Pay, you switch the “Default Card” in settings on your iPhone or reorder cards in Wallet so your preferred card appears first. This default card is what Apple Pay uses automatically when you tap to pay.

Change primary card on iPhone

  • Open Settings on your iPhone.
  • Scroll down and tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
  • Find Default Card under the Transaction/Payment Defaults section and tap it.
  • Select the card you want as your primary Apple Pay card.
  • Optional: Open the Wallet app to confirm that this card now shows as the main one for Apple Pay.

Change by reordering cards in Wallet

Some banks and guides also note that moving a card to the front of the Wallet can make it your main Apple Pay card.

  • Open the Wallet app on your iPhone.
  • Touch and hold the card you want to make primary.
  • Drag it to the front of your stack of cards in the Apple Pay section.

Change primary card on Apple Watch

If you pay with an Apple Watch, you set the default card separately.

  • On your iPhone, open the Watch app and go to the My Watch tab.
  • Tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
  • Tap Default Card , then choose the card you want as your primary Apple Pay card on the watch.

Quick tips and “gotchas”

  • The first card you add to Wallet usually becomes the default, so new devices may pick an unexpected card until you change it.
  • You can have multiple cards in Wallet and switch cards at checkout by tapping the card and choosing another, even if you keep a different one as default.
  • If a card is missing from the Default Card list, remove and re-add it to Wallet, then try again.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.