Apple Launches Tap to Pay on iPhone in the UK

[MacRumors]

Apple has announced the launch of Tap to Pay on iPhone in the United Kingdom, allowing independent sellers, small merchants, and large retailers in the country to use ‌iPhones‌ as a payment terminal.

Introduced in February 2022, the feature allows compatible iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets, using only an ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌ - no additional hardware or credit card machine is required‌.

Tap to Pay on ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ uses NFC technology to securely authenticate the contactless payments, plus the feature also supports PIN entry, which includes accessibility options.

"We've seen Tap to Pay on iPhone transform the checkout experience for so many different types of businesses, and we're thrilled to now support merchants across the U.K. by offering an easy, secure, and private way to accept contactless payments using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone, with no additional hardware needed," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. "Small and medium-sized businesses have long played a vital role in the U.K. economy, and alongside payment platforms, app developers, and payment networks, we're making it easier than ever for U.K. businesses to seamlessly accept contactless payments and continue to grow their business."

Revolut and Tyl by NatWest are the first payment platforms to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their U.K. business customers, with Adyen, Dojo, myPOS, Stripe, SumUp, Viva Wallet, Worldline, and Zettle by PayPal coming soon. Tap to Pay on iPhone will also roll out to Apple Store locations in the U.K. in the coming weeks.

Tap to Pay on ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ requires ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ XS or newer models, and works for customers as any normal ‌‌‌Apple Pay‌‌‌ transaction would. Sellers just need to open up the app, register the sale, and present their ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ to the buyer, who can then use an appropriate contactless payment method.

Tap to Pay on ‌‌iPhone‌‌ is available to over 700,000 additional businesses across the United States, and Apple Stores in the U.S. have also rolled out the feature. The U.K. is the fourth region to support Tap to Pay, following similar rollouts in Australia and Taiwan earlier in the year.

Article Link: Apple Launches Tap to Pay on iPhone in the UK

 

[arkitect]

Excellent news.
Hopefully the other banks won't be far behind with their support.

 

[angusmcfisher]

Back on topic, I hope we might get Apple Pay Cash some time.

 

[ErikGrim]

They finally launched a US only feature somewhere ELSE than the US? My God, maybe there's still hope that we'll see Apple Pay Cash and Apple Card sometime this century

 

[StellarVixen]

“XS or newer”

Pleasant surprise. Apple usually doesn’t offer too much, if any backwards compatibility for new features, often citing “hardware insufficiency” (in fact it’s because they want to sell more newer phones, but 🤫 dont tell anyone).

 

[Fried_Gold]

My God, maybe there's still hope that we'll see Apple Pay Cash and Apple Card sometime this century

Zero percent chance.

 

[rikki_t]

parity with android phones, never would have dreamt the day would come, the times I'v been asked to tap to pay by tradesmen and had to tell them sorry I've only got an iPhone only to witness the look of pity in their eyes.....sigh

 

[MajorFubar]

I'm pleased of course but I clearly remember the Keynote where Phil Schiller openly mocked NFC technology (shame I can't remember which it was...it was prior to 2020, back in the day when they had real live Keynotes). Funny how now it's perfectly fine.

 

[cgs1xx]

I thought the whole idea of this Tap to Pay was that it would work for individuals? businesses already have devices to accept contactless payments from their clients… 🧐

This would be great to have in the future, ie when you want to lend someone a tenner or give them money because you split the bill etc

 

[randomnut]

Yeah so this is a good idea but let's be honest anyone who is still not accepting card payments is doing it for a very specific reason that's not down to a lack of cheap payment and card reader options.

 

[randomnut]

I thought the whole idea of this Tap to Pay was that it would work for individuals? businesses already have devices to accept contactless payments from their clients… 🧐

This would be great to have in the future, ie when you want to lend someone a tenner or give them money because you split the bill etc

Agreed, or the option like they have in the US to send money via imessage would be handy as well.

 

[laptech]

Wouldn't criminals be able to use their iphone to capture contactless payments? As in, put the iphone in tap to pay mode then walk close to someone so it picks up their contactless card that is in the persons pocket or bag.

 

[leebroath]

Just out of curiosity, is there any charges for using this tap to pay service?

My other half has her own self employed nail business, this would be a great addition

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

Good, glad to see the UK getting more Apple Pay features!

 

[Robert.Walter]

Just out of curiosity, is there any charges for using this tap to pay service?

My other half has her own self employed nail business, this would be a great addition

I assume that merchants install an app on their device from a payment network and then pay their fees to the network as the would with a conventional fixed or mobile payment terminal.

Just speculation on my part but I can’t see merchants avoiding the fees that keep the networks in business.

 

[WildSelkie]

parity with android phones, never would have dreamt the day would come, the times I'v been asked to tap to pay by tradesmen and had to tell them sorry I've only got an iPhone only to witness the look of pity in their eyes.....sigh

Apple Pay as a payment method instead of using a debit card has been available for a good while in the UK now so you only having an iPhone shouldn’t have been an issue when paying a tradesmen if they were able to accept contactless payment.

this allows businesses to use an iPhone as a payment terminal rather than a dedicated card reader from their payment provider - admittedly this has been available on android for a while, but it would have been the tradesman apologising rather than you.

 

[Reason077]

I'm pleased of course but I clearly remember the Keynote where Phil Schiller openly mocked NFC technology (shame I can't remember which it was...it was prior to 2020, back in the day when they had real live Keynotes). Funny how now it's perfectly fine.

That was around when the iPhone 5 was released and (surprisingly to some) did not have NFC:

It’s not clear that NFC is the solution to any current problem, Schiller said. “Passbook does the kinds of things customers need today.”​

NFC of course, arrived a couple of years later with the iPhone 6, and Passbook was renamed Wallet.

https://allthingsd.com/20120912/int...w-connector-but-not-nfc-or-wireless-charging/

 

[jaytv111]

“XS or newer”

Pleasant surprise. Apple usually doesn’t offer too much, if any backwards compatibility for new features, often citing “hardware insufficiency” (in fact it’s because they want to sell more newer phones, but 🤫 dont tell anyone).

It is hardware related, though. They added an NFC antenna in the XS for "passive reading". Meaning it can be used by the system to scan NFC tags, while the normal NFC antenna for Apple Pay has been and continues to be reserved for Apple Pay (send mode). So yes it is XS and later by the hardware, earlier phones did not have passive reading.

I'm pleased of course but I clearly remember the Keynote where Phil Schiller openly mocked NFC technology (shame I can't remember which it was...it was prior to 2020, back in the day when they had real live Keynotes). Funny how now it's perfectly fine.

As the commenter above said, they had NFC since 2014 so you must be thinking of Phil saying Passbook is sufficient.

Wouldn't criminals be able to use their iphone to capture contactless payments? As in, put the iphone in tap to pay mode then walk close to someone so it picks up their contactless card that is in the persons pocket or bag.

Oh no, you're thinking of something fairly impractical, the criminal would have to rub their body all over your body to get sufficiently close for NFC to activate. Plus there's already payment readers with batteries so nothing really new here.

But there could be an "associate" who has their own payment account set up and scams you, but it would say the merchant name on their phone, so check the merchant name.

Just out of curiosity, is there any charges for using this tap to pay service?

My other half has her own self employed nail business, this would be a great addition

They don't charge businesses for this or other contactless systems, but Apple charges the issuing bank a fee for the transaction, the trade-off is that fraud rates are lower on Apple Pay so they pay less fraud claims in exchange for the fee. Fraud is lower because it's harder to steal a phone and start buying stuff, granted people are talking a lot about someone watching you put your PIN in and stealing your phone and getting everything, including Apple Pay, though you can still cancel cards remotely by calling the issuing bank.

 

[75Batt]

Wouldn't criminals be able to use their iphone to capture contactless payments? As in, put the iphone in tap to pay mode then walk close to someone so it picks up their contactless card that is in the persons pocket or bag.

Can criminals do that with Apple Pay?

 

[Pezimak]

This is great and convenient. And bad for reasons I can’t say (site rules). But for trades people and window cleaners etc it’ll be a pretty big boon.
If they could only make it work with Android, that would certainly please people like those at trade shows with stands, I do see the odd ones with those little plug in modules for iPhones to accept payment. Still a pretty good free upgrade to Apple Pay for most iPhones I guess?

Nearly on the way to not needing a wallet. It seems slow going with drivers licenses and passports going digital on iPhone, no idea when any of that will leave the US.

I had a good experience this week, the supermarket I shop at for groceries in the UK has done this trick others are, they have increased prices and to get the ’deals’ you need their store club card thing, in this case it was one called Nectar. I remembered to apply for one this week on their website, and was able to just put it in my wallet in my iPhone. I waiting for it to come in the mail, so I can use it instantly to save money of food shopping, all done in what 10 minutes? late in the evening.

I’ve always proclaimed how good Apple wallet is. And so far, touch wood, secure too.

 

[laptech]

Just out of curiosity, is there any charges for using this tap to pay service?

My other half has her own self employed nail business, this would be a great addition

I think your other half would need to install the app from Revolut or Tyl. You would need to check on their website if they have charges in place. It would need to be a business account as well.

Revolut and Tyl by NatWest are the first payment platforms to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their U.K. business customers

 

[Reason077]

Wouldn't criminals be able to use their iphone to capture contactless payments? As in, put the iphone in tap to pay mode then walk close to someone so it picks up their contactless card that is in the persons pocket or bag.

No. Firstly because Apple Pay needs to be activated/authenticated first to make a payment, it can't just make a payment from your pocket without you knowing[1]

And secondly, because reports of fraudulent transactions will just be charged back to you, and too many will quickly get your merchant account cancelled.

[1] with the exception of Express Pay, which a merchant needs special authorization to use. As in "being a bona-fide transit agency"

 

[laptech]

No. Firstly because Apple Pay needs to be activated/authenticated first to make a payment, it can't just make a payment from your pocket without you knowing[1]

And secondly, because reports of fraudulent transactions will just be charged back to you, and too many will quickly get your merchant account cancelled.

[1] with the exception of Express Pay, which a merchant needs special authorization to use. As in "being a bona-fide transit agency"

Your forgetting that other payment methods can be used

the feature allows compatible iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets, using only an ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌

I am assuming the bit in bold means that someone could place their contactless credit card or debit card on the tap to pay iphone. If so it means all criminals would need is a tap to go app on an iphone, put it in scanning mode, get close to people, say in a crowded bus or train and let it keep scanning the cards because no authentication is required (only when the card is used x amount of times and then it tells you to input your pin into the contactless device).

 

[Reason077]

I am assuming the bit in bold means that someone could place their contactless credit card or debit card on the tap to pay iphone. If so it means all criminals would need is a tap to go app on an iphone, put it in scanning mode, get close to people, say in a crowded bus or train and let it keep scanning the cards because no authentication is required (only when the card is used x amount of times and then it tells you to input your pin into the contactless device).

Good point. But theoretically, criminals have been able to do this for years already with Android devices or other payment terminal hardware. And many of those devices are much more hackable than an iPhone. For example, by attaching a custom antenna to boost NFC range...

But you can't really brazenly scam people using a merchant account, because too high percentage of chargebacks will quickly get noticed and get your account cancelled. Not for very long, anyway.

 

[Feek]

Apple Cash is getting closer for us.