Apple in February announced an upcoming “Tap to Pay on iPhone” feature that allows compatible iPhones to accept contactless payments without the need for additional hardware. Apple is now testing the feature at its Apple Park Visitor Center in Cupertino, California.
A tweeted video (shown below) shows how Tap to Pay allows retail employees to take an Apple Pay contactless payment from customers using only an iPhone.
The Apple Park Visitor Center is one of the only apple retail stores in the US to support contactless pay straight from an iPhone. Awesome to see in person! pic.twitter.com/GiFDiL56OO
— Michael (@NTFTWX) May 15, 2022
Tap to Pay on iPhone will be available for payment platforms and app developers to integrate into their iOS apps and offer as a payment option to their business customers. Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their business customers, including the Shopify Point of Sale app this spring. Additional payment platforms and apps will follow later this year. Apple recently expanded the program to include another partner, Dutch payment processing company Adyen.
Currently, contactless payments are made on an iPhone with additional hardware like the Square Reader, which connects to the iPhone wirelessly or through an iPhone’s Lightning port or headphone jack.
The new feature, set to debut later this year in the United States, will allow merchants with an iPhone XS or newer to accept contactless payments through supported iPhone apps. The merchant will simply hold out their iPhone, and the customer will hold their iPhone, Apple Watch, another digital wallet, or contactless credit card near the device and a secure payment will be made via NFC technology.
Apple has not announced a firm release date for Tap to Pay, but a U.S. rollout appears to be set for the near future, with a global release immediately following.
