Chosen Solution
Last week I took my phone into apple as my home button wasn’t working properly so they replaced the whole display and ever since that day apple pay will not work, when I had no problems with it before. It still comes up and will say ‘hold near reader’ but does not recognise that I am/nothing happens. Anyone else had this problem or know why?
If you brought your phone to the Apple Store, I would return there and have them fix it under warranty. Keep in mind that they may just elect to give you a replacement device so make a backup before you go.
I have experienced this issue myself on an iPhone 6S. I found that the NFC sensor had been damaged during repair. The NFC antenna in the 6S is located in the top right of the phone between the camera & chassis, with two screws holding in in place. Sounds like you have a similar issue to this, would be more help if you posted which model you were having issues with.
