The waning of the pandemic doesn’t seem to have slowed down the movement toward contactless payments.
Now, point of sale player Square (now part of Block) is working with Apple to make Tap to Pay on iPhone, Apple’s contactless payment acceptance capability, available within the Square Point of Sale app.
Given the growing popularity of tap-to-pay and contactless payments in general, this seems like a pretty obvious move by Square.
Meanwhile, the percentage of contactless-enabled credit cards is growing rapidly. Of course, Covid accelerated this growth. However, the safety and utility of contactless payments have given it legs well beyond the pandemic.
An American Bankers Association study offered a sense of the growth in contactless payments popularity. In 2019, a mere 11% of debit cards were contactless-enabled. By 2020, 66% of issuer banks were providing contactless cards. And 25% said they were planning to begin issuing contactless cards over the next one to three years.
Apple introduced iPhone tap to pay back in February. Here is what Apple said about it at the time.
“The new capability will empower millions of merchants across the US, from small businesses to large retailers, to use their iPhone to seamlessly and securely accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets through a simple tap to their iPhone.“
Early Access for Select Merchants
The Square program will not roll out until later this year. However, the company has launched an Early Access Program for Tap to Pay on iPhone. This allows select sellers to begin testing the new technology.
The beauty of this technology is that it works with existing applications and hardware. Just set it up and start tapping.
Square offered up this quote from one of its merchants in the Early Access program.
“As a seasonal business that’s always on the move, it’s important to have an easy-to-use, reliable mobile option for taking payments,” said Teddy Rojas, owner of Kona Ice Vacaville.
“Square and Apple are making it really convenient to make sure we never miss a sale. With Tap to Pay on iPhone, I can process contactless payments quickly, even on cellular service, and it provides a really straightforward experience so new staff can easily get up and running on taking payments on an iPhone.”
