Apple Testing New 'Tap to Pay' iPhone Feature At Apple Park Visitor Center

[MacRumors]

Apple in February announced a new "Tap to Pay on iPhone" feature that will allow compatible iPhones to accept contactless payments with no additional hardware required, and it turns out Apple is already trialing the feature at its Apple Park Visitor Center in Cupertino, California.

As the tweeted video embedded below shows, Tap to Pay lets the retail employee take an Apple Pay contactless payment from a customer using nothing but an iPhone – no payment terminal required.

When the feature launches in the U.S. later this year, merchants will also be able to accept payments using contactless credit and debit cards, along with other digital wallets, with no additional hardware beyond an NFC-equipped iPhone needed to process the payment. It will let small businesses accept contactless payments through supported iOS apps with an ‌iPhone‌ XS or newer.

Currently, merchants that accept contactless payments on an iPhone must rely on additional hardware like the Square Reader, which comes in various models that work wirelessly or connect to an iPhone's Lightning connector or headphone jack.

When Apple first introduced Tap to Pay, Stripe was announced as the sole partner, but Apple has since expanded to include another partner, Dutch payment processing company Adyen.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1525957678320652288

Adyen will work with enterprise customers and commerce platforms that include Lightspeed Commerce and NewStore, expanding the number of businesses that will be able to take advantage of Tap to Pay.

Apple has yet to provide a concrete release date for Tap to Pay, but given that Adyen was added last month and Apple is actively trialing the feature in at least one of its retail locations, we could see a U.S. launch in the near future, with a global rollout likely not too far behind.

Article Link: Apple Testing New 'Tap to Pay' iPhone Feature At Apple Park Visitor Center

 

[contacos]

Would be nice to have that widely available in the US. Maybe then I won't have to witness waiters walking away with my credit card.

 

[SoldOnApple]

Would be nice to have that widely available in the US. Maybe then I won't have to witness waiters walking away with my credit card.

In Australia it's common to see wireless card payment things. The banks here invested heavily in this kind of technology so tap and pay is everywhere, it's free, and any business no matter how small can access card readers.

 

[polyphenol]

Feels a bit late to the game.

I'm trying to remember the last time I had a problem paying for something with my ordinary contactless cards. I can't. Nor anyone walking away with my card.

Pretty much everywhere in the UK now seems to have suitable devices for taking card payments - mostly contactless if within the limit. That includes waiting staff often having one each. The past two or so years have had an obvious impact on the spread of this technology. Even tiny traders often have them.

It's all very well suggesting that we will not need cards as everything will be possible with just our phones. The consequences of a flat battery or dropping a phone could be ridiculously severe if we have no alternative means of paying for what we need. Especially if we have already racked up the charge (e.g. in a restaurant). Which is (partly) why I carry a credit card, a debit card and my phone pretty much all the time when I am out of the house.

 

[Lihp8270]

I want this technology but between private individuals.

I want to be able to send a friend £15 or something just by tapping phones together.

 

[cyanite]

I want this technology but between private individuals.

I want to be able to send a friend £15 or something just by tapping phones together.

I’d say that this is quite different technology. Described here is just a means to accept card payments. What you want is a common money exchange system via NFC.

 

[contacos]

In Australia it's common to see wireless card payment things. The banks here invested heavily in this kind of technology so tap and pay is everywhere, it's free, and any business no matter how small can access card readers.

Same in Germany. Even bakeries started to support it during Covid and I am like ?

When I visit the US, they usually take your card in one of those books at a restaurant, walk away with it and swipe it to pay. Out of sight of you. In Germany, the staff is not allowed to touch your card, you have to insert it yourself or just tap it.

 

[ginuz]

I see people bumping into myself to steal my money....

 

[tmiw]

Would be nice to have that widely available in the US. Maybe then I won't have to witness waiters walking away with my credit card.

That's mainly a cultural issue, not a technological one. A lot of places simply don't want customers running their own cards regardless of whether they need to buy anything new.

 

[SmugMaverick]

UK has been contactless for 15 years, this won’t change much here but it’s big for the US.

Good article on UK contactless during covid.

When contactless card payments were introduced in 2007, the transaction limit was set at £10 and designed as an alternative to small change.

The limit was raised gradually, to £15 in 2010, to £20 in 2012, and then to £30 in 2015. It was hurriedly increased to £45 last year as the pandemic accelerated a move away from cash.

Shoppers start to use new £100 contactless payment limit

But retailers say it could take months to update terminals so people can spend up to £100 without a Pin.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Caliber26]

I want this technology but between private individuals.

I want to be able to send a friend £15 or something just by tapping phones together.

Even if this did work, we know it would most likely be constrained to iPhone-to-iPhone, much like iMessage. At that point you might as well “text” them the funds via Apple Cash through iMessage. Other than looking cool, it wouldn’t offer that much of an advantage.

 

[Shaggymax]

If this results in truly universal NFC payments, it will be game a changer for small business!

 

[triton100]

Would love to tap my iphone against Tim Cooks - could be quite fruitful 😂😇

 

[SmugMaverick]

Apple Pay Cash would actually be more useful in the UK.

Would save me going into the banking app to send someone some cash.

Most farmers markets and small businesses have been contactless for years, this might save them some pennies I guess.

 

[shapesinaframe]

in SE Asia been using QR codes for payments for years. How is NFC better than using a QR code that doesn’t require special hardware?

 

[Lihp8270]

Even if this did work, we know it would most likely be constrained to iPhone-to-iPhone, much like iMessage. At that point you might as well “text” them the funds via Apple Cash through iMessage. Other than looking cool, it wouldn’t offer that much of an advantage.

Apple Cash isn’t available in the UK. I’d also want the cash in my bank rather than in an Apple Cash card.

 

[Lihp8270]

I’d say that this is quite different technology. Described here is just a means to accept card payments. What you want is a common money exchange system via NFC.

Pretty much. But it would still be awesome.

I mean. A retailer can put money on my card via Apple Pay with a contactless card reader, and I can pay a retailer.

Just needs somebody cleverer than me to make it work.

 

[Corsig]

The less I have to take out my wallet the better and no people can’t just bump into you to steal money you have to initiate a transfer first to someone.

 

[gsmornot]

We are way behind in the US. It’s getting better but still many of the largest companies in their sector dont accept contactless payment in any form. They dont want easier transactions, they want a method that avoids the credit card processing companies since they pay so much in fees. Their fight is making the adoption much slower here. Our largest grocery chain, the two largest home improvement chains and especially the largest retail provider initials WM. I dont want to include the full name has been the main opposition to the adoption. I use it where I can and look forward to some of my interactions having this better method. My haircut is paid to someone with a square reader that she has to fiddle with to make work. It eventually does but at some point this being available and a new phone she will be faster with the payment with less effort.

 

[strongy]

I see people bumping into myself to steal my money....

That’s not how it works

 

[cyanite]

in SE Asia been using QR codes for payments for years. How is NFC better than using a QR code that doesn’t require special hardware?

This system just becomes a completely standard NFC payment terminal for cards. There is an international standard for that. QR codes requires the paying party to use their phone or similar.

I mean. A retailer can put money on my card via Apple Pay with a contactless card reader, and I can pay a retailer.

Just needs somebody cleverer than me to make it work.

Sure they can, but they pay fees to the VISA or whatever network in order to do so.

 

[BootsWalking]

I was a little confused how this works and how it compares to Apple Pay. Then I read Apple's press release from February 8 and this excerpt explains it well:

"Once Tap to Pay on iPhone becomes available, merchants will be able to unlock contactless payment acceptance through a supporting iOS app on an iPhone XS or later device. 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. No additional hardware is needed to accept contactless payments through Tap to Pay on iPhone, so businesses can accept payments from wherever they do business. Apple Pay is already accepted at more than 90 percent of US retailers, and with this new capability, virtually every business, big or small, will be able to allow their customers to Tap to Pay on iPhone at checkout. Tap to Pay on iPhone will also roll out to Apple Store locations in the US later this year."

So instead of tapping your phone to a third-party NFC terminal at the store you'll instead tap your iPhone to the store's iPhone.

 

[PC_tech]

When I visit the US, they usually take your card in one of those books at a restaurant, walk away with it and swipe it to pay. Out of sight of you.

When was the last time you were in the US? This hasn’t been the case in a lot of places for the last few years.

 

[methano]

Trialing? Really? Well, what do you know? Another noun has passed over into verb-land. I knew what it meant. I looked it up and it's OK. But Darn, I wish they wouldn't do that. What's wrong with "testing"?

 

[EuroChilli]

Would be nice to have that widely available in the US. Maybe then I won't have to witness waiters walking away with my credit card.

Wireless credit card machines that work on GPRS have been around for about 20 years. So it's been that long since I last let my cc out of my sight, even in countries like South Africa where I have lived most of my life. In other words, the waiter always brings the machine to you these days.

I actually worked as a waiter in a restaurant in South Africa in 1993 that had a battery powered credit card machine. You plugged it into the phone line once a day to download the hot card list and upload the previous shifts transactions, but even back then we would take the machine to the tables. I guess some places are still a bit slow on the uptake of tech.