Tap to Pay: Another EU country supports iPhone payments, Germany is missing
Tap to Pay, the function once launched in the USA that turns an iPhone into a card terminal, is now also being launched in Italy. Apple is proceeding slowly.
Apple Tap to Pay: iPhones can also accept cards.
(Image: Apple)
Small and larger retailers who do not want to purchase special hardware to accept card payments have been able to use a simple iPhone for this purpose since 2022. The problem: Apple's so-called Tap to Pay is only available in a few regions so far. After the launch in the USA, it continued in the UK in summer 2023. The Netherlands was added a little later, as was France. Apple has now added another EU country.
API for third-party providers
This is Italy, as Apple announced in a press release. "Businesses can now accept payments via Apple Pay and other contactless payment methods by simply using an iPhone and an iOS app provided by a partner," the company said. As in other regions of the world, Apple is therefore not the payment service provider; instead, third-party providers use Apple's API to implement the service.
In Italy, these are the companies Adyen, myPOS, Nexi, Revolut, Stripe, SumUp and Viva, which will be the first to offer their own apps with Apple's Tap to Pay. The service is not only capable of accepting payments via smartphones or computer watches, but can also accept normal contactless credit and debit cards. As mentioned above, this eliminates the need to purchase a card terminal or an NFC reader connected via Bluetooth. The wireless technology built into the iPhone is sufficient.
Older iPhones also included
Tap to Pay works technically from the iPhone XS, which was launched on the market in 2018. Customers can then pay on site either with an NFC-enabled credit or debit card (Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover, Diners) as well as with Apple Pay or other digital wallets. Apple itself does not have access to any data.
It is not known why Germany is not yet able to use the service. As mentioned, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are supported in Europe. Other Tap-to-Pay countries are Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Ukraine and the USA.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)