The iPhone will accept card payments using NFC

Apple wants the iPhone to become a payment terminal and is preparing an iOS update in this direction. According to Bloomberg, it will be possible to make a contactless payment using NFC.

The iPhone will become a payment terminal

The idea is that a merchant no longer relies exclusively on a dedicated payment terminal. His iPhone could thus suffice. For example, a customer would simply tap their bank card on the back of the merchant’s iPhone to make a payment. He could also use his own iPhone to pay for the transaction.

This technology has been in the works since 2020, when Apple bought Mobeewave for around $100 million. The Canadian start-up was already working on this technology and now its team, which has joined Apple, is developing it exclusively for the iPhone.

It is currently unclear whether this new functionality to transform the iPhone into a payment terminal will be integrated with Apple Pay or whether Apple will choose another name. Bloomberg says, however, that the team that worked on it is part of the payments division at Apple.

The positive point is that all iPhones should be able to have this novelty. Indeed, it is based on the NFC chip and this has been present since the iPhone 6. It was used exclusively for Apple Pay when it was launched. An iOS update should therefore be sufficient to activate the new feature. It remains to be seen whether it will be with iOS 15.4 or with iOS 16.