A photo showing Apple’s Tap to Pay feature to complete a payment between two iPhones.
Image: Apple
Apple just announced it plans to release a software update this spring that will turn any iPhone XS or newer into a contactless payment terminal. You won’t need any sort of accessory or additional hardware. Only an iPhone running the right software.
A software update for the iPhone will enable the feature, but users will also need to use a third-party app. Apple announced that Stripe will be the first payment platform to work with Tap to Pay through the Shopify Point of Sale app this spring.
Apple also notes that other payment processors and apps will follow later this year.
To be clear, Tap to Pay isn’t limited to only accepting payments from other iPhone users. Users will be able to accept payments from Apple Pay, credit and debit cards equipped with contactless payment functionality and “other digital wallets” — which I translate into meaning Samsung Pay and Google Pay.
Apple will release a beta version of the software update — I’m guessing iOS 15.4 since it’s currently in beta — for developers to begin integrating the Tap to Pay SDK into their apps.
Bloomberg recently reported Apple was working on this feature, and I was hopeful that we’d see it released sooner than later.
I’m curious about whether or not Apple will add NFC to the iPad in order to turn it into a bigger Tap to Pay terminal. The iPhone as a portable point of sale system is a great idea, but I imagine a larger-screened device — as Square has proven — is a more suitable device for a payment kiosk.
What do you think about Tap to Pay? Is it something you see helping small businesses, or just another way for Apple to lock people into its ecosystem? Let us know in the comments below.
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