Apple Stores Rolling Out iPhone-to-iPhone Contactless Payments Starting Today

Apple in February unveiled a new "Tap to Pay on iPhone" feature that will allow compatible iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets, with no additional hardware required.

Apple Tap to Pay iPhone
Apple began testing the feature at its Apple Park Visitor Center earlier this month, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has tweeted that the feature will begin rolling out to Apple Stores across the United States starting today, allowing customers to try it out. The feature might not be available at every Apple Store immediately.

Apple said the feature would launch in the U.S. later this year, but the company has yet to share a specific launch timeframe. The feature will allow small businesses and merchants to accept contactless payments through supported iOS apps using an iPhone XS or newer. At checkout, the merchant will simply prompt the customer to hold their own iPhone or Apple Watch, contactless credit or debit card, or other digital wallet near the merchant's iPhone, and the payment will be securely completed using NFC technology.

tap to pay on iphone credit card
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.

Top Rated Comments

jimbobb24 Avatar
24 months ago
Five minutes later EU bureaucrats now demanding Apple open this to everyone.


This is a great technology. I see people at garage sales and farmers market using square. This is another good option.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
24 months ago
I'm glad it's rolled out this quickly. Another reason why everyone should get an iPhone.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gsmornot Avatar
24 months ago

So square devices and similar are now dead? Reminds me of when Google Maps/directions was released free. That basically killed the dedicated GPS device market. Prior to google, map companies were charging $20-$30 a month for their directions app
I thought I read a while back it would require a third party like Square to enable the payment acceptance to work. I dont think its exactly direct payment but instead uses the NFC service via an app to accept on the phone. It would eliminate external hardware but not necessarily a company like Square who would still be there to process. Maybe I am mistaken?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jarman92 Avatar
24 months ago

Five minutes later EU bureaucrats now demanding Apple open this to everyone.


This is a great technology. I see people at garage sales and farmers market using square. This is another good option.
Nah, they’ll demand that Apple get rid of it because it’s “anti-competitive.” Even though Apple makes no money from it and it’s beneficial for consumers.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yossi Avatar
24 months ago
So square devices and similar are now dead? Reminds me of when Google Maps/directions was released free. That basically killed the dedicated GPS device market. Prior to google, map companies were charging $20-$30 a month for their directions app
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LeadingHeat Avatar
24 months ago
I'm just excited for this to roll out to the third party payment services, and then later (a year later maybe to avoid all the hungry Eurocrats) open it up to using Apple Pay peer-to-peer without needing a third party app. Just baked into iOS 17 or something.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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