Apple Pay

Apple turned the rumor of iPhones becoming mobile payment terminals into an official announcement today, and payment processor Stripe has more details.

Apple has officially announced a new Tap to Pay feature for iPhone. This feature, coming later this year, will allow businesses to use their iPhones to “seamlessly and securely” accept Apple Pay payments with a simple tap. The feature will also work for contactless credit cards and debit cards, as well as other digital wallets.

Apple has been investing in payment technologies for a long time. Since Apple Pay was introduced in 2014, the company has also launched a peer-to-peer payment platform and even its own credit card. Now the company is reportedly working to enter the payment terminal market using the iPhone – but the iPad should also be part of that plan.

Apple is developing a new feature that would allow iPhone users to accept credit card payments via contactless technology without any extra hardware, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The report explains that Apple’s system is likely to use NFC technology similar to Apple Pay.

After a bank in Peru teased the imminent launch of Apple Pay in the country last week, Apple is now the one saying its own payment service will be launching soon in Argentina and Peru.

Update: After 9to5Mac published that Interbank Peru was announcing Apple Pay support, the bank removed its videos about the service as well as the page promoting Apple’s own payment system. As of now, only Brazil and Colombia offer the ability to add debit and credit cards to the Apple Wallet in South America.

Apple Pay has had its first expansion in 2022 as Peru is now enabling Apple’s own payment system through Interbank. With that, this is the third South American country to support Apple Pay.

In September, Banco de Chile, one of the most important banks of the South American country, let its customers add their cards to the iPhone’s Wallet app to use Apple Pay. A few days later, the bank removed these cards as Apple wasn’t ready to promote the service just yet.

Now, a new piece of evidence shows that Banco de Chile is readying again the launch of Apple’s own payment system in the near future.

It’s been a couple of years since Apple launched the Express Transit feature for users to pay for public transportation just by taking the iPhone closer to an NFC terminal, without the need for an ID verification.

The function, which has been available for London users for quite some time, is now being promoted inside the Wallet app, even if the user already has the Express Transit feature set.

The popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia recently updated its website with a small but great new feature for iOS and macOS users. Wikipedia is finally accepting Apple Pay as a payment method on its website, making it easier for users to send donations to the non-profit organization.

Apple Pay is expanding to three new countries. Starting today, users in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Azerbaijan can make payments through Apple’s payment platform.

It’s been a while since 9to5Mac has been covering the imminent launch of Apple Pay in Costa Rica and Colombia. After months of banks preparing the launch of the service, it’s finally available.

EU antitrust regulators are set to charge Apple with anti-competitive practices in regards to the NFC chip inside iPhones and Apple Pay. According to a report from Reuters, charges are being finalized now and could be sent to Apple as soon as sometime next year.

The relationship between Apple and US banks is beginning to show strain, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The report, citing “people familiar with the matter,” says that banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, and Bank of America have “grown unhappy with the costs” associated with Apple Pay transactions, particularly after Apple introduced its own Apple Card product in 2019.

The report also reveals the tidbit that Apple agreed not to develop a card processing network to compete with Mastercard and Visa as part of its initial push for Apple Pay adoption.

Almost a decade since Apple started rolling out Apple Pay support, it’s still being expanded to more countries. Today, Bahrain, a country in the Persian Gulf, is adding support for Apple’s own payment system.

It’s been a few months since 9to5Mac began reporting on Costa Rican banks readying the launch of Apple Pay in the country. Now, Banco Promerica just uploaded Apple’s payment system terms and conditions to its web page.

Update: A few days after letting users add their card to the Wallet, Banco de Chile removed them, as Apple is not promoting Apple Pay in the country just yet.

Apple Pay is expanding to a second South American country. After Brazil, Chile is now receiving support for Apple’s own payment system.

A new survey from PYMENTS.com today suggests that just 6% of iPhone owners in the United States opt to use Apple Pay in stores, despite having the feature set up on their device. The survey shows that “93.9% of consumers with Apple Pay activated on their iPhones do not use it in-store to pay for purchases.”

Every week, Apple reveals a new exclusive offer for Apple Pay users in the US, and this week’s offer is for customers of the popular grocery delivery service Instacart. The company is offering up to $30 off orders placed at Instacart for those who pay with Apple Pay.

Last month, 9to5Mac had exclusive coverage that Apple Pay is set for Central America expansion as BAC Credomatic bank ramps up testing. Now, we’ve learned that this bank has taken another step to launch Apple’s own payment system.