Apple today announced that starting with the release of iOS 18.1 later this year, outside developers will soon be able to offer NFC transactions in their apps for the first time. Currently, the feature is mostly restricted to Apple Pay.
Starting with iOS 18.1, developers will be able to offer NFC contactless transactions using the Secure Element from within their own apps on iPhone, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Using the new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs, developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets, with government IDs to be supported in the future.
Users will be able to access an app that uses NFC and the Secure Element on their iPhone by directly opening the app or by setting it as the default contactless payment app that will appear when the user double-clicks the iPhone’s side button to start a transaction.
Apple is taking steps to ensure that only authorized developers who meet certain regulatory and industry requirements will have access to NFC and Secure Enclave entitlement. Developers must request access, enter into a commercial agreement with the Cupertino company, and agree to Apple’s security and privacy standards before being granted to the APIs.
The NFC and Secure Enclave APIs will be available to developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the U.S. in an upcoming developer seed for iOS 18.1. Availability will expand to more regions later.
Opening up access to NFC transactions to outside developers will certainly lead to more competition among payment apps on the iPhone. Banks, credit card companies, and payment processors will be able to create their own payment apps to directly compete with Apple Pay, Apple’s own contactless payments solution.