Apple has introduced Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia, giving merchants the ability to accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and bank cards payments, and other digital wallets using just an iPhone and an app.
This comes roughly a month after both Stripe and Zip launched similar Tap to Pay digital payment solutions for Android devices.
Tap to Pay on iPhone can be used on any device from an iPhone XS, running iOS 16.4 or later.
“Australia is a nation of entrepreneurs and innovators, and small and medium-sized businesses are at the heart of the country’s workforce, employing millions of Australians,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
“Now, with Tap to Pay on iPhone it’s easier than ever for businesses of any size to seamlessly accept contactless payments using only their iPhone, wherever they do business.
“The convenience of Tap to Pay on iPhone empowers Australian businesses to offer easy, secure, and private contactless payment experiences to their customers, and help them run and grow their business.”
Westpac and Tyro Payments are the first payment platforms in Australia to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their business customers, with ANZ, Stripe, Till Payments, and Zeller making it available in the coming months.
Tap to Pay on iPhone also works through eftpos, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express.
A year ago, CBA chief Matt Comyn noted that Apple Pay represented 40 per cent of all tap-and-go payments, and 80 per cent of all payments made through digital wallets.
Now, with this further step, Apple is set to control a larger portion of our banking sector, despite not being held to the same strict financial regulations as banks.
Last June, both CBA and the ACCC called for Apple to be part of the ePayments Code, administered by ASIC. As yet, this has not occurred.
