Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone technology expands to more countries

Apple's 'Tap to Pay on iPhone' payment technology is now making its way to even more regions. The Cupertino giant announced that Tap to Pay on iPhone is expanding to five new European countries: Estonia, Latvia, Monaco, Lithuania, and Norway.

Tap to Pay on iPhone enables merchants to turn their iPhone into a portable payment terminal, allowing them to accept in-person contactless payments from customers. The service works with Apple Pay, contactless credit cards, debit cards, and other mobile wallets.

Just like a regular payment terminal, customers can hold their contactless card, iPhone, or Apple Watch close to the merchant's iPhone to make payments. Tap to Pay on iPhone utilizes NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to do its job and doesn't require additional hardware.

Apple says that transactions made through Tap to Pay on iPhone are processed using the Secure Elements chip. Such transactions are encrypted, and the company claims it "doesn’t know what is being purchased or who is buying it."

Note that Tap to Pay on iPhone is different from Apple Pay. It's a contactless payment technology; meanwhile, Apple Pay is more like a digital wallet that stores your credit and debit card information. It's one of the ways merchants can accept payments using Tap to Pay on iPhone, but Apple Pay can also work other other contactless payment options.

The service works with iPhone Xs (or later models) through a supporting iOS app. Apple partners with payment platforms that integrate Tap to Pay on iPhone into their respective apps. Here are the platforms Apple supports in the newly added countries:

• Estonia: SumUp, Revolut
• Lativia: SumUp
• Lithuania: SumUp, Revolut
• Monaco: BNP Paribas, Adyen
• Norway Adyen, PayPal, Stripe, Nexi, SumUp, Surfboard Payments, and Viva.com

Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone was introduced in the US in 2022, followed by other countries, including the UK and Brazil. The total number of countries and regions where it's available is now 43. Speaking of which, this is Apple's second big expansion in Europe this year. Tap to Pay on iPhone was launched in eight European countries earlier in May.