Apple on Tuesday announced plans to incorporate a new “Tap to Pay on iPhone” feature that will allow compatible iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets, with no additional hardware required.
At present, merchants which accept contactless payments via the iPhone must rely on accessories such as the Square Reader, which can work wirelessly or connect to an iPhone’s Lightning connector or headphone jack. The feature will be compatible on iPhone models XS or later and payments will be secured via NFC technology.
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, and additional payment platforms and apps will follow later this year, according to Apple. Apple Stores in the U.S. will also roll out the feature later this year. It appears that the feature will be exclusive to the U.S. at launch, with no other countries mentioned.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.