Apple will launch a new iPhone contactless payments feature with Tap to Pay on Apple Pay, coming later in 2022 via merchant-enabled iOS apps in the United States.
- Tap to Pay is a new NFC-based iPhone contactless payments feature
- Tap to Pay on iPhone will launch later in 2022 in the United States
- Tap to Pay requires an iPhone XS or later and a partner-enabled app
- Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer Tap to Pay to its users
- Additional payment platforms and apps will roll out support later this year
- Tap to Pay on iPhone will also roll out to Apple stores in the US later in 2022
Tap to Pay, a new iPhone contactless payments feature
A press release on Apple Newsroom frames Tap to Pay as a new way for businesses to accept contactless payments on iPhone without requiring a dongle like Square. The new feature was recently highlighted in a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Tap to Pay requires an iPhone XS or later and a special partner-enabled iOS app. Apple promises that retailers of all kinds will be able to accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets “through a simple tap to their iPhone.”
Here’s how Tap to Pay is supposed to work, once it becomes available:
At checkout, the merchant will simply 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, and the payment will be securely completed using NFC technology. No additional hardware is needed to accept contactless payments through Tap to Pay on iPhone, so businesses can accept payments from wherever they do business.
Apple says that Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to its business customers. And coming this spring, the Shopify Point of Sale app will introduce support for the new iPhone contactless payments feature. Cards from American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa will be supported at launch.
“Additional payment platforms and apps will follow later this year,” Apple says.
When will Tap to Pay on iPhone launch?
Tap to Pay on iPhone will launch “later this year” in the United States with support from select merchants. Tap to Pay will also roll out to Apple’s US-based stores later in 2022.
The NFC-enabled contactless payments feature may even come to your favorite apps because Apple will let developers integrate Tap to Pay functionality into their apps. For instance, a shopping app might add Tap to Pay as a payment option. Tap to Pay uses the same security principles as Apple Pay, meaning that all payment data is securely stored in the Secure Element on your device, walled off from the rest of the system. As is the case with Apple Pay, Apple doesn’t know what is being purchased or who is buying it.