In February 2022, Apple rolled out Tap to Pay in the United States. Thanks to this feature, American merchants were able to transform their iPhone into a payment terminal. Good news, it is now available in France. However, not all banks are affected.
Goodbye payment terminals, hello iPhone
Apple announced the good news via a blog post: “The Tap to Pay service on iPhone is available to payment platforms and app developers in France, who can integrate it into their iOS apps and offer it as a payment acceptance option to their business customers“.
To put it simply, the iPhone can serve as a payment terminal for French merchants. It is thus possible to pay quickly contactless with your bank card. An intermediary is obviously involved to receive the money: banks or payment services, which generally sell traditional terminals.
Apple explains in passing that several entities have been supporting Tap to Pay in France since November 14: the banks of the BPCE group (Banque Populaire, Caisse d’Épargne and Payplug), Adyen, myPOS, Revolut, SumUp, Viva Wallet and Worldline. We learn in passing that BNP Paribas, Crédit Coopératif, MarketPay, Stancer and Stripe will soon offer it.
On the privacy side, Apple obviously reassures by declaring that customer payment data is protected thanks to “the same technology that ensures the privacy and security of Apple Pay“. Thus, the apple firm has no information on the product or service purchased as well as on the buyer.
For Apple, the French market is ideal for Tap to Pay: “With over 90% of bank cards in France equipped with contactless technology, and the growing adoption of contactless payments, merchants will be able to accept payments from their customers with a simple tap on their iPhone“, explains Jennifer Bailey, vice-president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. It should be noted that it is necessary to have at least an iPhone Xs running iOS 17.1.1 in order to benefit from the Tap to Pay service. But for the moment, it is only open to professionals from large groups, and not to ordinary mortals; for the moment, Apple Stores as well as some brands from the LVMH group are among the first adopters of Tap to Pay .