Apple has just launched Tap to Pay for iPhone in a number of new European countries, including Poland, Switzerland, Finland, Hungary, Portugal, and several others. It allows making contactless payments. It works with credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and a number of third-party payment platforms.
The latter was once a controversial issue for Apple. The company allowed third-party developers to access its NFC technology, which powers Tap to Pay, only after EU regulators threatened it with a huge antitrust fine. Apple even agreed to allow users to make third-party wallets the default app.
This means that many European customers will now be able to access third-party payment platforms without jumping through hoops. For example, iPhone users in Finland will be able to use Tap to Pay with Stripe, SumUp, Viva, and many others. Hungarians will be able to use Adyen, Global Payment, myPOS, and others. This is a real cornucopia of NFC payment options.
Thanks to the strict EU regulation and the regional Digital Marketplace Act (DMA), America has also joined the process. The company recently opened up its NFC technology to third-party developers in the US and Canada. This functionality appeared in a software update as part of iOS 18.1.
This feature works in the European countries announced so far if the customer has an iPhone Xs or later and is using the latest version of iOS. Merchants do not need any additional hardware to conduct transactions. Third-party payment platforms can also integrate Tap to Pay directly into their iOS apps.
