Apple unveiled plans to roll out Tap to Pay feature on iPhone, which allows businesses to use mobile devices as a payment terminal for contactless payments. The company says that later this year, U.S. merchants will be able to accept Apple Pay and other contactless payments, including Google Pay, by using an iPhone and a partner-enabled iOS app.
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Tap to pay feature to accept payments from contactless bank cards and digital wallets
Apple has opened the NFC chip up in the iPhone to third-party payment platforms to create applications that enable Tap to Pay technology. The tap to Pay feature on iPhone will work with contactless credit and debit cards from numerous payment networks, including American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa. Apple stated in a blog post; “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.”
The company explains that 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.
Grabbing the opportunity
According to a report published by UK-based Juniper Research, there will be more than 4.4 billion mobile wallets across the world by 2025. However, 69% of transactions will be based on mobile payments. Apple would, surely, want to own a big chunk of that market in the rest of the world, especially in North America. Square is one of the biggest companies in North America when it comes to POS machines. The company sends merchants a free magstripe card reader. However, Apple can beat them by removing any hardware constraint, and letting merchants just use their phones.
Source: Reuters
