Apple introduces Tap to Pay feature on iPhones which turns the merchant’s iPhone into a Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal. The customer taps their contactless credit, debit cards on the back of the merchant’s iPhone to complete a transaction. This feature enables small merchants and large retailers to widely accept payments through apple devices and services. The launch of this feature eliminates the need for a POS terminal and additional hardware at payment checkouts. It is expected to be launched by the end of 2022.
About ‘Tap to Pay’:
- Apple has invested around $100 million for Mobeewave, a Canadian startup to develop this feature.
- NFC technology is used for securely completing payments through Tap to Pay feature.
- This feature is expected to be launched in the upcoming iOS software beta update.
- This mode of payment can be done by iPhone XS or later models of iPhones (iPads not included).
Where to use this feature?
Stripe and Shopify Point of Sale App will be incorporating this feature on their payment platforms by May 2022 which be followed by a few more payment platforms. Apple store locations will implement this feature as a payment mode later this year which will work with contactless credit and debit cards from leading payment networks like American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa.
How is it done?
Usually, the customers swipe their credit/debit cards in the payment terminals to make a payment. With this mode of payment, customers receive a prompt from the merchants. The customers can use their Apple Watch, iPhones, contactless credit cards, debit cards, or other digital wallet near the merchant’s iPhone to complete the payment.
Who can use it?
Customers and merchants who own an iPhone XS or any other latest model can use this feature. Small businesses can be benefitted by using this feature as the purchase and maintenance cost of point-of-sale terminals is reduced.
Why is Apple doing this?
By introducing this feature, Apple is increasing the circulation of Apple devices in the market. Also, Apple is extending its colony in the payment industry with this announcement. Most people pick Apple devices because of its security and privacy features which has been established in people’s mind for a long time. So, when this feature comes out in the market, people will easily pick up this technology and adapt to it. This may lead to creating more dependency on apple devices and technologies.
Do you know there is an Indian company that is already offering this feature?
Pine Labs is an Indian merchant platform company founded in 1998 facilitates financing and payment products and solutions to payment merchants across India. Pine Lab’s ‘Tap & Pay’ feature has already been doing what Apple is aspiring to achieve in the US market. Instead of using the contactless credit and debit cards on a point-of-sale terminal, payments can be made through NFC enabled android smartphones.
Conclusion:
Once the ‘Tap to Pay’ technology is live in the US market, Apple will definitely try to implement this in the other marketplaces depending on its success. More inferences can be drawn once this technology comes to the market.
