Apple has announced the rollout of Tap to Pay on iPhone in Canada, allowing independent sellers, small merchants, and large retailers in the country to use iPhones as a payment terminal.
Introduced in February 2022, the feature allows individuals and merchants with an iPhone XS or newer to accept contactless payments through supported iPhone apps. The merchant simply holds out their iPhone, and the customer holds their iPhone, Apple Watch, another digital wallet, or contactless credit card near the device and a secure payment will be made via NFC technology.
No additional hardware or credit card machine is required to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. The feature uses NFC technology to securely authenticate contactless payments, plus the feature also supports PIN entry, which includes accessibility options.
“Canadians increasingly rely on a variety of digital and contactless payment options, so we’re excited to partner with payment platforms to offer merchants across Canada a private, secure, and easy-to-use capability that meets customers where they are,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. “We’ve seen how merchants and customers around the world appreciate the versatility of Tap to Pay on iPhone, and in a region as diverse as Canada’s, we look forward to making it easy for businesses of any size to transact from coast to coast with just an iPhone.”
Businesses in Canada can offer Tap to Pay on iPhone through iPhone apps offered by Adyen, Moneris, Stripe, and Square. In the coming months, Apple said Aurus, Chase, Fiserv, and Helcim will also offer the feature in the country.
Apple said Tap to Pay on iPhone will be available at Apple Store locations across Canada and at merchants such as Sephora, later this year.
Japan becomes the tenth country to support Tap to Pay, following similar rollouts in Japan earlier this month, as well as the U.K., Australia, Taiwan, Brazil, Ukraine, France, and the Netherlands last year.