Apple has expanded the availability of its Tap to Pay on iPhone to additional European countries. This expansion includes Poland, Switzerland, Finland, Hungary, and Portugal, among others. The Tap to Pay on iPhone functionality lets merchants accept contactless payments using iPhones, supporting credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and third-party payment platforms.
This expansion comes after Apple made its Near Field Communication (NFC) technology accessible to third-party developers, a change made in response to regulatory inquiries from the European Union. The EU expressed concerns regarding competition and antitrust practices, leading Apple to also agree to let users set third-party wallet applications as default payment options.
With this update, iPhone users in countries like Finland and Hungary now have access to a wider range of payment platforms. In Finland, services such as Stripe, SumUp, and Viva are now compatible. In Hungary, Adyen, Global Payment, and myPOS are among the available options.
The availability of Apple’s NFC technology for third-party developers has also extended to the United States and Canada, implemented through a software update in iOS 18.1.
The Tap to Pay on iPhone function is available to customers using an iPhone Xs or newer model running a recent iOS version. Merchants do not require additional hardware, and third-party payment platforms can integrate Tap to Pay directly into their iOS applications.
More here.