If you’ve ever been in a store and tried to pay with a credit card only to be told that they don’t accept cards, you know how frustrating it can be. Luckily, there’s a new way to pay that’s sweeping the nation: tap to pay. With this new technology, you can simply tap your phone against the reader at the register and your payment will go through instantly. No more fumbling for cash or waiting for your card to be approved – tap to pay is fast, easy, and convenient.
Apple’s new Tap to Pay feature has reached beta testing and with other investments, such as the Credit Kudos acquisition, could be a sign of an ongoing strategy to increase use of the iPhone as a full payments platform. Jonny Evans adds details in his Apple Holic report for Computerworld:
Tap to Pay is expected to launch for real this spring (both Stripe and Adyen say they will enable the services around then) and I imagine other payment service providers who are already working with Apple Pay will also introduce support for it over time. Businesses using Tap to Pay should also register with Apple Business Register.
Apple is doing a lot of work to shore up and extend its Apple Pay services and systems, including steadily introducing on-device support for government ID.
Of course, once an iPhone becomes your passport and your driving license, it also becomes a point of trust for additional payment and identity services.
The continued potential extensions within Apple’s wallet allow a robust portfolio from servicing merchants with Tap to Pay to serving unbanked consumers through Apple Pay currently and possible extensions to BNPL opportunities. Evans notes the possibility of the full-service opportunity:
It is interesting that activity around this side of Apple’s business does appear to be intensifying just over three years since Apple launched Apple Card. Cupertino clearly sees a big opportunity as the entire payment sector transforms into a digital and frictionless opportunity spot in which taking and or making payments becomes as easy and habitual as switching on a water tap.
In the near-term look for additional support for Tap to Pay beyond already announced plans from Adyen and Stripe to help Apple build share among merchants.
Overview by Jordan Hirschfield, Director of Research at Mercator Advisory Group
