Leaf&Core

Apple’s Bringing Direct Tap to Pay to iPhone

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Two people touching the top edges of their phones together, one to pay, and the other to receive a payment. They are both iPhones. A long time ago, there was an app called Bump. You’d hold your iPhone with the app open in your hand, fist bump someone who was doing the same, and you’d be able to exchange contact information. Eventually, NFC in Android phones and AirDrop would make it fade into obscurity. People always loved the idea of being able to just tap their phones together to transfer something wirelessly. Now, using Apple Pay, you can pay for anything wirelessly. Credit card readers and Square readers often can accept payments with nothing more than a tap. Soon, your iPhone will be able to do that too.

Later this year, the iPhone will be the tool retailers will be able to use to collect Apple Pay payments as well as credit and debit cards, as well as other electronic payment means. App developers will be able to support tap to pay in app later this year.

Tap to Pay

Tap to pay will work with the iPhone XS and newer. With it, the iPhone will be able to accept payments from other iPhones, digital wallets, contactless credit and debit cards, and even other devices. Google Pay, for example, will be compatible with Apple’s new feature. It’s not clear of a specific app will have to be used on both devices, or if the iPhone will be able to receive from any source easily. Apple says the feature will release later this year, which means we’ll likely get more details before Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June.

Apple’s tap to pay feature has a few rivals, but none coming close to Apple’s ease of use. The Square Reader has been wonderful for small businesses, who could easily use their phone or an iPad to collect payments. However, it was an external piece of hardware, or an iPad kiosk. This isn’t as easy as simply accepting payments directly on your phone.

Some third parties collect and process your purchase data. What someone purchases is, obviously, valuable to advertisers. Many companies that sell ads, like Google, purchase credit card information to serve more targeted ads. Apple doesn’t sell ads. However, since the tap to pay feature will make use of third parties for collecting payments, whether those are apps or Apple’s own credit backing, that data may still get collected and even sold. Still, it’s one fewer company spying on your transactions.

Some Drawbacks

Obviously an iPhone can’t read magnetic strips or chips like Square’s readers can. In the United States, tap to pay credit cards aren’t as common as those using a chip or magnetic strip. Still, like Apple Pay did before, the fact that Apple devices can collect payments from these kinds of cards may increase their popularity in the U.S. After all, while Google Pay and Samsung Pay existed for mobile payments before Apple Pay, it was Apple Pay that put smartphone-driven checkouts in every store. As an added bonus, many places started supporting Google Pay and other contactless payments, especially during the early days of the pandemic, when we were trying to contact nothing and no one.

It may take some time for people to completely trust the feature. After all, if you go to a shop and someone asks you to tap your card to their phone, the fear of credit card theft will certainly set off a few alarms in your head. Apple claims their technology is secure, so that shouldn’t be a problem. It’s definitely going to take some getting used to though. Because, while a Square reader was doing the same thing, the external reader at least let you know the company collecting the payment and that it was legit. Like all new technologies, it’ll take time for people to adjust. But I do look forward to people being able to pay bar tabs with a fist bump again.


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