Apple has unveiled a new feature called Tap to Pay that allows iPhones to directly receive payments without any extra hardware. Bloomberg reported a rumour about the technology last month, but now the company itself has confirmed that it will be coming in a future iOS beta update.
It’s said that the tech giant has been working on the feature since its US$100 million (~RM418 million) acquisition of Mobeewave in 2020, a firm that develops contactless payment technology for smartphones. Specifically, the Tap to Pay function works by using the phone’s near-field communication (NFC) chip, allowing users to receive payments from Apple Pay, debit and credit cards, and other e-wallets.
Stripe will be the first platform to offer Tap to Pay on the Shopify Point of Sale app this spring, with more platforms set to adopt it later in the year. However, Apple mentioned that only users in the US will receive the feature for now. Additionally, the new function will only be enabled for the iPhone XS or later, even though older devices have been equipped with NFC since the iPhone 6.
Apple has not mentioned if or when Tap to Pay will be coming to other countries, and it is unlikely to arrive in Malaysia anytime soon as Apple Pay is not available here yet. It is also worth noting that the company had also confirmed to The Verge the feature will also support Google Pay.
