Apple Tap to Pay expands to the UK, letting iPhone users accept contactless payments

Apple has expanded Tap to Pay’s availability and is giving businesses and merchants across the United Kingdom the option to accept contactless payments using just their iPhones. The tech giant initially released the feature in the US in mid-2022 before making it available in Taiwan and Australia. Like in those regions, merchants in the UK will be able to receive payments without having to purchase extra hardware, since the capability uses NFC. As long as they have an iPhone XS or later, they can offer contactless payment as an option for customers who use Apple Pay, contactless debit or credit cards and other digital wallets. 

The company unveiled the feature in early 2022 before testing the payment system at its own visitor center in Cupertino. Following Tap to Pay’s rollout, big-name fintech services launched support for the feature, including PayPal, Venmo and Square. 

According to Apple’s announcement, Revolut and Tyl by NatWest are the first payment platforms allowing their business customers in the UK to use the company’s Tap to Pay technology. Adyen, Dojo, myPOS, Stripe, SumUp, Viva Wallet, Worldline and Zettle by PayPal will be the next financial services to support the feature in the region. Apple didn’t mention a specific rollout date for them, only that support for Tap to Pay will be “coming soon” for their customers. In addition announcing the feature’s availability, the company has revealed that Tap to Pay will be available in its retail stores across the UK in the coming weeks. That means UK customers will be easily be able to pay for purchases by bumping a card or another phone to the store’s iPhone.

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