Apple has taken another step to turn the iPhone into an essential tool for self -employed and small businesses. Your system Tap to pay on iPhonewhich allows accepting payments directly from the phone without using datáphones, has just landed in eight new European countries.
The expansion on the continent is clear, and the big question that many are asked is: When will it arrive in Spain?
Tap to pay is already in Europe
Tap to pay on iPhone appeared in the United States in May 2022 as a revolutionary solution for contactless charges. The idea is simple: two iPhone approach and the payment is made Without having to use a dataphone as a payment receiver. This is ideal for street vendors, freelancers, small shops or any business that does not want to depend on external hardware. Since its launch, the function has progressively reached more markets. After landing in the United Kingdom and France in 2023 and in Japan in May 2024, it expanded to five more countries in October of the same year. And today, Apple has announced its availability in eight other countries: Belgium, Croatia, Chipre, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg and Malta.
The deployment, however, is not as simple as it seems. For Tap to pay to work in a country, it is necessary that local payment platforms are integrated with the system. In this case, Apple has detailed that the function will be compatible with services such as Stripe, Ady and Worldline, as well as with American Express contact cards, Discover, Mastercard and Visa. They have also worked with local payment solutions, such as Bancontact in Belgium or Dankort in Denmark, which shows that Apple is taking it very seriously.
Apple Pay and Apple Wallet's vice president Jennifer Bailey, explained in her launch that Tap to Pay on iPhone not only offers comfort, but also privacy and security. And he is right, since the function does not require additional hardware and card data are not stored on the device, because The whole process is carried out in an encrypted way.
When does Tap to Pay arrive in Spain?
The advance is evident, but in Spain we are still waiting. Although there is no official confirmation, everything indicates that it could reach the Second half of 2025 or early 2026. Spain is a market where Apple Pay is already very settled and the use of contactless payments is widespread, so it has all the meaning that the country is in the next wave of expansion. The real challenge will be to close agreements with the local payment platforms and the banks, but seeing the speed with which Apple is moving, it would not be surprising if the company was already in conversations to activate the service.
The implementation of Tap to Pay in Spain would mean a brutal impulse for entrepreneurs and small businesses that seek to simplify their daily operation. No more rented datáphones, no more contracts with third parties. Only your iPhone and a compatible app. In addition, functionality is not limited to collection, but also allows Carry the company accounts automatically.
What if the future of payments in Spain is just a couple of distance updates?
