Apple Announces Support for NFC Tags That Trigger Apple Pay

[Kabeyun]

I’m confused. Don’t we already have this? Every time I make a contactless payment (groceries, Staples, etc.) it’s via NFC with no dedicated app. Is the big news that it’s a sticker instead of a terminal?

 

[bkaus]

This is really cool and would be great if small vendors (e.g. farmer's market vendors) could just have an NFC tag in the future instead of having a whole POS + terminal/square setup.

I’ve been thinking about this - how does the farmers market vendor know they have been paid by a particular person? They cannot trust looking at the payers phone as that could be spoofed.

 

[Gorms]

How about opening up NFC so that I can unlock my house/car by waving my iPhone on the door?

Yes. This, please, Apple NFC team. In iOS13, no dilly-dallying, thanks xxx

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Cool, just hope someone doesn't find some way to hack around it.

 

[whooleytoo]

Maybe I'm being paranoid here - but I'm assuming you still need to 'prep' the phone (double-tap the home button etc..), merely being very close to an NFC tag isn't enough for the payment to go through?

(I don't have an iPhone X so I've no idea how the authorisation happens there.. Do you just look at the phone? If you get some kind of notification that an NFC tag is 'seeking' payment, and look at your phone to see what it is, does that authorise the payment?)

 

[dwaite]

I’m confused. Don’t we already have this? Every time I make a contactless payment (groceries, Staples, etc.) it’s via NFC with no dedicated app. Is the big news that it’s a sticker instead of a terminal?

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Cool, just hope someone doesn't find some way to hack around it.

Maybe I'm being paranoid here - but I'm assuming you still need to 'prep' the phone (double-tap the home button etc..), merely being very close to an NFC tag isn't enough for the payment to go through?

(I don't have an iPhone X so I've no idea how the authorisation happens there.. Do you just look at the phone? If you get some kind of notification that an NFC tag is 'seeking' payment, and look at your phone to see what it is, does that authorise the payment?)

The protocol is the normal secure challenge/response for credit cards - I assume this just initiates an online payment that's fully integrated into the wallet app.

For those who aren't familiar, you initiate a payment by holding the phone near an NFC terminal or double-tapping the button, then have to do authentication before the payment can go through. The increased convenience and security is how apple justifies their ~0.15% cut of the transaction fee.