Contactless Payments and Tap to Pay

Contactless payments let a customer tap a card or phone instead of inserting or swiping a card. With Tap to Pay, the merchant’s own phone takes the tap. This guide summarizes what Apple, Stripe and Square publish, as read on 2026-10-16. Features, availability and fees change, so confirm with your provider.

What Tap to Pay on iPhone does

Apple says payment apps can accept contactless payments from contactless credit or debit cards, Apple Pay, Apple Watch and smartphones with other digital wallets, right on iPhone and without extra terminals or hardware. Apple also says that over two thirds of all credit and debit cards in the US are issued as contactless-enabled cards.

Beyond taking a payment, Apple says a merchant can use Tap to Pay on iPhone to read a card in person without making a charge, for example to add a card to a customer’s file for future payments or to look up a previous purchase to help complete a transaction such as a refund without a receipt. It can also read loyalty and points cards in Apple Wallet.

Apple states that the screen shown to customers clearly indicates the amount being charged, the merchant’s name and where to tap.

What you need

Apple describes the merchant side in three steps: download a supported payment app from the App Store, accept the terms and conditions on your device, and let the device be configured. After that you can start accepting payments immediately. Apple adds that:

• Tap to Pay on iPhone requires a supported payment app and the latest version of iOS.
• Some contactless cards may not be accepted by your payment app.
• Transaction limits may apply.
• It is not available in all markets.

The payment app comes from your payment provider. Apple explains that app developers have to integrate with a supported payment service provider, which processes the payments and is responsible for the necessary certifications. That means the cost, the supported cards and the payout schedule are set by your provider, not Apple.

What Stripe and Square say

Stripe. Stripe says Tap to Pay on iPhone supports Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover contactless cards, NFC-based mobile wallets and QR-based payment methods, with PIN entry supported, and lists the United States among available countries. It also points to a no-code route, accepting payments from the Stripe Dashboard mobile app. On its pricing page Stripe lists in-person payments at 2.7% + 5¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards, plus 1.5% for international cards, plus $0.10 per authorization for Tap to Pay, with no additional hardware needed on a compatible iPhone or Android device. Its card readers are listed separately; the Stripe Reader M2 is listed at $59.00.

Square. Square’s pricing page lists Tap to Pay on iPhone and Tap to Pay on Android under its point-of-sale features, describing them as a way to take payments with just your phone, accepting contactless cards, Apple Pay and other digital wallets in person, with no additional hardware needed. Its processing fees are listed in rows for tap, dip or swipe, online, and manual entry; check which row applies to your payments on its page, and see Square fees explained.

To see how published rates change your monthly cost, use our processing fee calculator.

A short setup checklist

1. Pick a provider whose app supports Tap to Pay in your market and check its fee page.
2. Update your phone to the latest operating system, as Apple requires for iPhone.
3. Do a real test sale and a test refund before opening to customers.
4. Decide what you will do if a card is not accepted or exceeds a transaction limit, such as having a second payment method ready.
5. If you expect volume or need cash-drawer, receipt printer or inventory hardware, compare full POS systems in our POS ranking.

What we did not verify

We did not verify which iPhone models or Android phones are supported, since device requirements can change, and we did not read Square’s help article for Tap to Pay. We did not check transaction limits, which Apple says may apply. Check your provider’s current requirements before you buy equipment or plan around the feature.