This week, Apple announced that merchants using iPhones will soon be able to accept contactless payments directly through Apple’s Apple Pay and Tap to Pay features. It’s a feature that could have major implications for payment processing at a number of merchants both small mom-and-pop shops to your major retailers. Here’s what Apple’s had to say so far.

For merchants, the expansion of Tap to Pay would allow them to begin accepting contactless payments without the need of purchasing or leasing additional equipment like credit card readers or point-of-sale terminals. All that would be required is a supported device (an iPhone XS or later per Apple’s press release) and using a supported payment platform.

Apple’s also touting the benefits to customers – namely their continued commitment to protecting users’ privacy. Since the Apple Pay payment platform already encrypts users’ data, the same will hold true when paying a merchant using Apple Pay as their payment terminal. According to Apple, all purchase information – customer name, purchase information, and amount – will be kept securely on-device.

It’s pretty clear that Apple is eyeing an entry into the payments space but like all things Apple they’re definitely testing the waters. While Apple has named Stripe as their launch partner, they’ve made it clear that they intend on opening Tap to Pay for merchants to other payment platforms in the near future.

Source: Apple