Apple turned the rumor of iPhones becoming mobile payment terminals into an official announcement today, and payment processor Stripe has more details.
For starters, Stripe suggests that Tap to Pay on iPhone will debut before summer:
Turn an iPhone into a contactless reader using Tap to Pay on iPhone and the Stripe Terminal SDK. Accept payments from contactless cards, Apple Pay, and other digital wallets in person directly on an iPhone—no additional hardware required.
Coming this spring to the US.
Apple is less committal in its press release, only saying later this year, so it may be too soon to hang our hats on a launch in the next few months. Still, Tap to Pay is clearly a feature Apple wants to bring to the iPhone this year, and Stripe is already asking merchants to apply for its closed beta program to test the feature:
Tap to Pay on iPhone is available through the Stripe Terminal SDK as part of a closed beta program.
If you’re interested in integrating Tap to Pay on iPhone into your app or joining as a supported platform partner, please provide your information and we’ll be in touch with more details.
Potential partners can sign up starting today to be considered for the upcoming closed beta program from Stripe. Apple says an upcoming beta version of iOS will support development with Tap to Pay on iPhone:
Tap to Pay on iPhone will be available to participating payment platforms and their app developer partners to leverage in their software developer kits (SDKs) in an upcoming iOS software beta.
Read more about the newly announced Tap to Pay on iPhone feature here.
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