Apple introduces Tap to Pay on iPhone for small business tap and go payments

From market stalls to local community sports clubs and the many small business operators who either want to or do accept digital payments, the whole process just got a lot simpler and more convenient with the launch of Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia.

Anyone that’s been to a local market or perhaps your local sports club BBQ might have seen the little card readers that some organisations use to allow you to tap and go with your card or phone. Those readers cost money, and they require bluetooth pairing, and charging and just a whole added extra level of fuss.

With Apple’s Tap to Pay if your bank or payment provider has enabled the solution, you can simply accept a tap and go payment using your iPhone!

Launching today with Westpac and the big Tyro Payments group, businesses can use an App on their phone to enter a sale amount, or select from goods for sale, choose a total then simply hold their phone out to the customer who can tap and go with a physical card or digital wallet of their own.

Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet says “Australia is a nation of entrepreneurs and innovators, and small and medium-sized businesses are at the heart of the country’s workforce, employing millions of Australians. Now, with Tap to Pay on iPhone it’s easier than ever for businesses of any size to seamlessly accept contactless payments using only their iPhone, wherever they do business,”

“The convenience of Tap to Pay on iPhone empowers Australian businesses to offer easy, secure, and private contactless payment experiences to their customers, and help them run and grow their business.” 

It’s all as safe and secure as using a Digital Wallet yourself, with all transactions encrypted and processed using the secure element on the iPhone.

And Westpac and Tyro won’t be the only ones. Soon ANZ, Stripe, Till and Zeller will have the feature too.

Westpac’s Chris de Bruin says “Our business customers can be onboarded and start accepting quick and secure payments on the go within minutes, with only an iPhone and the Westpac EFTPOS Air iOS app — no additional hardware needed. This new capability is particularly beneficial for any business that takes payments on the road or needs its staff to be more mobile on the shop floor. It’s a game changer for tradies, delivery drivers, businesses like hairdressers, mechanics or florists, and many more.”

Over at Tyro, Jon Davey their CEO was enthusiastic “Tap to Pay on iPhone is a fantastic, simple, and secure way for new or existing Tyro customers to accept payments using only their iPhone, anytime, anywhere — without the need for additional hardware,”

“We are excited to introduce this new offering to our customers, providing greater flexibility when staff are working onsite or are on the move. It couldn’t be simpler. Just download the Tyro BYO App to start accepting customer payments on your iPhone in minutes.” 

This is a fascinating move for Westpac, and other banks, who for years fought Apple over the introduction of Apple Pay, and still harbour some angst over not being able to use tap and go payments from their own banking apps.

It’s not the first though either, with Westpac already offering their “EFTPOS Air” app on some Android devices for the same application.