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Square Announces Tap to Pay on iPhone Early Access Program

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Digital payments platform Square today announced the launch of an early access program that adds support for Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone feature to the Square Point of Sale app.

Apple-Tap-to-Pay-iPhone.jpeg

Small businesses and independent sellers who use Square will be able to accept in-person contactless payments using an iPhone and the Square app, with no additional hardware required.

Square's Tap to Pay on iPhone feature will launch in full later this year, but an early access program is available for select sellers starting today, allowing the company to test Tap to Pay before it debuts. Square users interested in Tap to Pay can sign up to test it on the Square website.

Apple introduced Tap to Pay on iPhone back in February, with the feature designed to let NFC-compatible iPhones accept payments through Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets with no add-on hardware.

At the current time, Square's payment solution requires a dongle that is connected to the iPhone over Bluetooth or plugged into the phone through the Lightning port. The new solution will not require Square's typical hardware.

Stripe and Dutch payment processing company Adyen have already implemented support for Tap to Pay. As of right now, the Tap to Pay option is limited to the United States.

Article Link: Square Announces Tap to Pay on iPhone Early Access Program
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/06/02/square-tap-to-pay-on-iphone/
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unregbaron said:
Why would you use Square after this feature is introduced?
Click to expand...
Adapt or fail.

They already have a huge list of small businesses using their incredibly easy pos systems.

I was pulled fork IT service desk cause our CFO and upper management liked to drink at a bar 5 doors away to fix their POS system base don windows with terrible tech support whom was too lazy to resolve. Told them I know nothing about it but fixed it up, gave them a tip on what I suspected was the root cause but the sales team wasn’t sure if I should delete the oversized DB and they had no backup for bills awaiting to print. Got those printed all complete in 20mins.

Next day down again but new HDD they followed my tip fixed but I advised to get something modern.

They went with square. Fast easy no 3rd party support costing them $300/wk from a. Rep too lazy to call or come in when needed.

This will make half their patrons in York Toronto easier to pay especially when drunk and over drinking but trust worthy.
 
DeepIn2U said:
Adapt or fail.

They already have a huge list of small businesses using their incredibly easy pos systems.

I was pulled fork IT service desk cause our CFO and upper management liked to drink at a bar 5 doors away to fix their POS system base don windows with terrible tech support whom was too lazy to resolve. Told them I know nothing about it but fixed it up, gave them a tip on what I suspected was the root cause but the sales team wasn’t sure if I should delete the oversized DB and they had no backup for bills awaiting to print. Got those printed all complete in 20mins.

Next day down again but new HDD they followed my tip fixed but I advised to get something modern.

They went with square. Fast easy no 3rd party support costing them $300/wk from a. Rep too lazy to call or come in when needed.

This will make half their patrons in York Toronto easier to pay especially when drunk and over drinking but trust worthy.
Click to expand...
This will only help in person to person payments situations or really small shops where the owner presents the invoice on their phone. Not seeing a scenario where this helps their POS system integration. The majority of their POS terminals are Android, and the other tablets are iPads which do not support this tap to pay functionality
 
iGeneo said:
This will only help in person to person payments situations or really small shops where the owner presents the invoice on their phone. Not seeing a scenario where this helps their POS system integration. The majority of their POS terminals are Android, and the other tablets are iPads which do not support this tap to pay functionality
Click to expand...
It would be cool kind of to have an iPhone as the customer facing card reader, and the iPad be the cashier facing card reader. An iPhone can actually be cheaper than a lot of these Verifone MX925s, etc that they use already.
 
unregbaron said:
Why would you use Square after this feature is introduced?
Click to expand...

what exactly do you think this feature does? it's entirely useless without a payment processor.

the feature just allows the app of a payment processor to leverage nfc tech to conduct the transaction without the use of an external reader.

it's not like one can just type in their business bank information somewhere in settings, and then someone's card will just deposit money when tapped.
 
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dontwalkhand said:
It would be cool kind of to have an iPhone as the customer facing card reader, and the iPad be the cashier facing card reader. An iPhone can actually be cheaper than a lot of these Verifone MX925s, etc that they use already.
Click to expand...
They could use a PAX A77 that is under $400, same size as iPhone and allows them to insert a card as well as tap, even allows swipe.

An iPhone pigeonholes you to a tap only solution
 
Thebrochure said:
You know what's even easier? Handing someone currency.
Click to expand...
In what way is that easier?

Maybe if you already happen to have the physical cash already on your person but otherwise it's far less convenient.

Personally, using my phone or watch which I always have on my is far easier, besides, this still also takes debit and credit cards for those who still use them.
 
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MacFan23 said:
In what way is that easier?

Maybe if you already happen to have the physical cash already on your person but otherwise it's far less convenient.

Personally, using my phone or watch which I always have on my is far easier, besides, this still also takes debit and credit cards for those who still use them.
Click to expand...
Sure, if you don't have cash. But if you're going to be someone who uses cash, you're also going to have it in your wallet or pocket at all times when you're out. And if you have it in your wallet or pockets with you're out, it's far easier to just pull it out and hand it over to someone than it is to mess around, tapping phones like it's freakin' E.T.

Another classic example of a solution to a problem that never existed.
 
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iGeneo said:
They could use a PAX A77 that is under $400, same size as iPhone and allows them to insert a card as well as tap, even allows swipe.

An iPhone pigeonholes you to a tap only solution
Click to expand...
I figured that since most cards have tap now, the ones that don't can just be hand keyed into the system, which is what I plan on doing once this new feature rolls out for Square.
 
Thebrochure said:
Sure, if you don't have cash. But if you're going to be someone who uses cash, you're also going to have it in your wallet or pocket at all times when you're out. And if you have it in your wallet or pockets with you're out, it's far easier to just pull it out and hand it over to someone than it is to mess around, tapping phones like it's freakin' E.T.

Another classic example of a solution to a problem that never existed.
Click to expand...
Let's not invent new things at all, after all, the candle still provides light, and the horse and buggy is more environmentally friendly than any Tesla!
 
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iGeneo said:
This will only help in person to person payments situations or really small shops where the owner presents the invoice on their phone. Not seeing a scenario where this helps their POS system integration. The majority of their POS terminals are Android, and the other tablets are iPads which do not support this tap to pay functionality
Click to expand...
Not sure where you get majority of POS systems are android there bud.

This helps in AnY business where you Sue a credit card to pay.

Apple stores,
Bars and Restaurants,
Weed dispensary stores (legal in Canada),
Etc.

Anywhere where a handheld terminal is used this can replace or work in tandem with.
 
DeepIn2U said:
Not sure where you get majority of POS systems are android there bud.

This helps in AnY business where you Sue a credit card to pay.

Apple stores,
Bars and Restaurants,
Weed dispensary stores (legal in Canada),
Etc.

Anywhere where a handheld terminal is used this can replace or work in tandem with.
Click to expand...
He is talking about full on point of sale systems, not just credit card readers. Sure this can replace a credit card reader, but it can't replace a full on point of sale system/app.

Apple Stores, Weed Stores, and bars and restaurants that you mentioned use point of sale systems to track inventory, employee time, cook time (restaurants), orders, online orders, check IDs, manage backroom inventory, shelf locations, ,etc, which all need more than just a credit card reader to work. Credit card readers are only a small piece of the entire system.

Now this tap to pay feature plus a really good point of sale app like Square? That, that will be a game changer. I already use Square for everything else, from online appointment booking, payroll, and they even now are hosting my website.
 
Last edited:
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DeepIn2U said:
Not sure where you get majority of POS systems are android there bud.

This helps in AnY business where you Sue a credit card to pay.

Apple stores,
Bars and Restaurants,
Weed dispensary stores (legal in Canada),
Etc.

Anywhere where a handheld terminal is used this can replace or work in tandem with.
Click to expand...
Their = Square

The vast majority of Square locations do not use mobile devices.

I'll note that I have forgotten more about POS Systems than you have ever known
 
DeepIn2U said:
Anywhere where a handheld terminal is used this can replace or work in tandem with.
Click to expand...

The company with the largest marketshare today is TOAST... they are 100% Android and their mobile unit is Android, they have NO plans for anything iOS. So your point is moot
 
iGeneo said:
The company with the largest marketshare today is TOAST... they are 100% Android and their mobile unit is Android, they have NO plans for anything iOS. So your point is moot
Click to expand...
Toast grabbed a lot of marketshare by now pushing towards enterprise customers such as Jamba Juice. I wouldn't be surprised if Starbucks is next on their radar.
 
dontwalkhand said:
Toast grabbed a lot of marketshare by now pushing towards enterprise customers such as Jamba Juice. I wouldn't be surprised if Starbucks is next on their radar.
Click to expand...
TOAST does not handle enterprise well... Jamba Juice with less than 800 is a blip on the radar... Starbucks has over 32K worldwide. They are well embedded with their customized version of Oracle Simphony. TOAST can't play in the large enterprise space, Oracle and to a lesser extent Brink (PAR) own that space. Besides, TOAST has their own issues, free hardware to lock in processing is a loser (look at their balance sheet) They will have no choice but to raise rates and with that the exodus will begin and companies like SpotOn and Heartland will step in
 
This is interesting but Apple’s lack of NFC support on the iPad is a huge miss here. Most retailers use iPads as registers, so in effect they are still locked into using a third party device like Square‘s NFC Reader.

The second piece is for transactions over $100/$200, chip and pin (USA chip and sign) is still going to be a factor that this can’t replace.
 
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