Apple today announced a tap-to-pay feature for iPhones. This new feature benefits businesses by turning iPhones into payment terminals. The company said that businesses can use their iPhones to accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets through a simple tap to their devices without requiring any additional hardware.
Apple’s tap-to-pay feature will be available on iPhone XS and later models. It will also be available for payment platforms and app developers to integrate into their iOS apps and offer as a payment option to their customers. The company said that Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer its tap-to-pay feature on iPhones to their customers. It will arrive on the Shopify Point of Sale app this spring. The company said that the feature will arrive on additional payment platforms, apps and Apple Store locations in the US later this year.
Furthermore, the company said that tap-to-pay on iPhone will work with contactless credit and debit cards from payment networks, including American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa.
How Apple’s tap-to-pay feature works
Apple’s newly launched tap-to-pay feature uses NFC technology to enable payments. The company said that once the tap-to-pay feature becomes available on iPhones, merchants will be able to offer contactless payment to their customers through a supporting iOS app. At checkout, the merchant will prompt the customer to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch to pay with Apple Pay, their contactless credit or debit card, or other digital wallet near the merchant’s iPhone, following which the payment will be securely completed.
But what about security?
On the privacy front, Apple said that with tap-to-pay on iPhone, customers’ payment data is protected using the same technology that it uses to secure Apple Pay, that is, Secure Element. Furthermore, the company won’t know what is being purchased or who is buying it.
As far as availability is concerned, Apple said that it is rolling out its tap-to-pay feature to merchants in the US. There is no word on when it will arrive in other parts of the world.
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