Apple today launched Tap to Pay on iPhone in Germany, empowering millions of merchants, from small businesses to large retailers, to use their iPhone to seamlessly and securely accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets using only their iPhone and a partner-enabled iOS app.
Payment platforms and developers can integrate Tap to Pay on iPhone into their iOS apps, making it easy for merchants to enable this secure and convenient capability.
Tap to Pay is available in all Apple Stores in Germany, and retailers including Dyson, GANNI and Rituals are putting it into place even as Gastronovi makes the service available across thousands of restaurants it supports in the nation.
Adyen, Commerz Globalpay, myPOS, Nexi, SumUp and Viva are the first payment platforms in Germany to offer Tap to Pay on the iPhone from today. mollie, PAYONE, Revolut, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe and Stripe will introduce Tap to Pay on the iPhone later this year.
“With the increasing popularity of contactless payment, German companies rely on a variety of means of payment and hardware to meet customers’ payment wishes. With Tap to Pay on the iPhone, merchants now have an incredibly secure and convenient way to accept contactless payments with the iPhone without the need for additional hardware,” said Jennifer Bailey, Vice President of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet at Apple.
“In cooperation with payment platforms, app developers and payment networks, we make it easier than ever for companies of all sizes – from small shops to large retail chains – to accept contactless payments and further expand their business.”
With Tap to Pay on iPhone, merchants can unlock contactless payment acceptance through a supporting iOS app on an iPhone Xs or later device running the latest iOS version.
At checkout, the merchant will simply prompt the customer to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch to pay with Apple Pay, their contactless credit or debit card, or other digital wallet near the merchant’s iPhone, and the payment will be securely completed using NFC technology.
Apple Tap To Pay on iPhone
Tap to Pay on iPhone complements and enhances the robust suite of payment and commerce tools that payment platforms and app developers provide to their merchant customers to help them run and grow their businesses.
Tap to Pay on iPhone will work with contactless credit and debit cards from leading payment networks, including American Express, Mastercard, and Visa.
The in-person payments landscape continues to evolve, driven by buyer preferences for contactless payments and encouraged by an industry-wide migration towards more secure payments enabled by NFC technology.
With Tap to Pay on iPhone, sellers gain more flexibility to unlock new commerce experiences and help ensure they never miss a sale, whether that involves empowering staff to line bust in retail environments for faster checkouts, or equipping professional services workers to take contactless payments on the go.
Customers get the convenience of using contactless credit or debit cards, as well as digital wallets such as Apple Pay, to make seamless and secure purchases wherever they shop.
Apple has included a range of privacy and security features into the system. Transactions are encrypted and processed using the iPhone’s Secure Element, meaning that Apple is not able to track who has purchased something or what they have bought.
The system also uses a standardised payment screen, which means that users will be able to check they are being charged the right fee and that it is a legitimate transaction.
