PrivatBank, Ukraine's largest bank, has announced support for Apple's Tap to Pay feature on iPhone, bringing the contactless payment system to Ukraine for the first time.
Tap to Pay on iPhone
The feature is supported using PrivatBank's "Terminal" app, available for download from the App Store. With it activated, merchants can accept contactless payments -- not only from iPhones equipped with Apple Pay, but using other digital wallet systems and contactless credit and debit cards.
Tap to Pay does not require a terminal reader or any sort of external hardware. Using the Near-Field Communications (NFC) tech built into the iPhone, Tap to Pay enables merchants to accept digital payments with, as the name suggests, a mere tap from the payee's iPhone or other contactless payment method.
Yevhen Zaigraiev, PrivatBank SME Board Member, explained that PrivatBank's system is designed to scale to any size business, small or large.
"Developed by PrivatBank, the Terminal app on iPhone is a comprehensive turnkey solution for businesses that not only allows them to record cash transactions, create and fiscalize checks, and transfer information to the tax authorities, but can now also accept contactless Visa and Mastercard payments," said Zaigraiev.
Apple first announced Tap to Pay in February 2022. The company initially partnered with online payment processing platform Stripe to roll out the feature. After a limited beta test, developer rollout, and early trial at the Apple Park visitor center in Cupertino, Apple began supporting the feature across the U.S. at its retail stores starting in May 2022.
Since then, businesses including GoDaddy and PayPal have begun to accept Tap to Pay payments, and the service has gradually expanded beyond the borders of the US.
Ukraine becomes the seventh nation or region to support Tap to Pay. The service arrived in Australia in May 2023 with initial support from Westpac and Tyro Payments. Service in the UK followed in July with support from Revolut and Tyl by NatWest, and came to the Netherlands in August thanks to the efforts of Adyen and SumUp. Tap to Pay came to Brazil in September via CloudWalk, and is also available in Taiwan.