Your iPhone May Be Able to Accept Direct Payments Soon

It's unclear if this would impact third-party terminals like Square

By
Rob Rich
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Rob Rich
News Reporter
  • College for Creative Studies
Rob is a freelance tech reporter with experience writing for a variety of outlets, including IGN, Unwinnable, 148Apps, Gamezebo, Pocket Gamer, Fanbolt, Zam, and more.
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Published on January 27, 2022 12:43PM EST
Fact checked by
Jerri Ledford
Jerri Ledford
Fact checked by Jerri Ledford
  • Western Kentucky University
  • Gulf Coast Community College
Jerri L. Ledford has been writing, editing, and fact-checking tech stories since 1994. Her work has appeared in Computerworld, PC Magazine, Information Today, and many others.
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It seems like Apple may be working on a way to use your iPhone to accept direct payments, and it could be available sometime in 2022.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is reporting that Apple plans to offer a new service that would allow your iPhone to accept payments directly, rather than just make payments. According to Gurman, the concept has been in development since 2020 and will likely utilize the same near field communications (NFC) chip already used for Apple Pay.

Woman paying with smartphone in a restaurant

Westend61 / Getty Images

As Gurman points out, while iPhones have been able to act as a form of payment for a while via services like Apple Pay, accepting payments requires an external terminal—something like a plug-in Square device or a credit card reader connected via Bluetooth.

This new feature will, once available, allow users to accept payments by having a credit card (or iPhone) tapped to the back of their iPhone.

Woman using smartphone and using bank card at home

Westend61 / Getty Images

It's uncertain whether or not this new feature will act as part of Apple Pay, thus competing with other third-party payment terminals, or if it will work with existing mobile terminal providers. Apple has so far declined to comment on the possible feature in any way.

Without any confirmation from Apple, there's no way to know for sure when (or if) this feature will become available. However, Gurman's sources believe it may roll out in a software update "in the coming months," possibly alongside iOS 15.4, but that's also mere speculation.

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