Apple has announced that it has rolled out Tap to Pay on iPhone in South Africa. This means that independent sellers, small merchants, and large retailers in the country can now use their iPhones as a payment terminal.
Introduced in February 2022, the feature allows individuals and merchants with an iPhone XS or newer to accept contactless payments through supported iPhone apps. The merchant simply holds out their iPhone, and the customer holds their iPhone, Apple Watch, another digital wallet, or contactless credit card near the device and a secure payment will be made via NFC technology.
No additional hardware or credit card machine is required to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. The feature uses NFC technology to securely authenticate contactless payments, plus the feature also supports PIN entry, which includes accessibility options. All transactions made using Tap to Pay on iPhone are encrypted and processed using the Secure Element, and Apple doesn’t know what is being purchased or who is buying it.
Payment platforms and developers can integrate Tap to Pay on iPhone into their iOS apps, making it easy for merchants to enable this secure and convenient feature.
Starting today, iStore Pay and Yoco are the first payment platforms in South Africa to support the feature, offering support for Mastercard and Visa. American Express support is coming soon.
Tap to Pay on iPhone launched in February 2022 in the United States, and since then, Apple has been working to expand it to additional countries.
Tap to Pay on iPhone is now available in in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
