News > Phones 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 Rob Rich Twitter 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. lifewire's editorial guidelines Published on January 27, 2022 12:43PM EST Fact checked by 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. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Phones Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming 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. 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. 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. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit