Apple has now brought its Tap to Pay easy-payment technology to New Zealand. Merchants can now use an iPhone or Apple Watch to accept payments from contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, or other digital wallets.
Merchants can use iPhones to accept contactless payments. Image credit: Apple
The technology requires a partner-enabled iOS app on the merchant's iPhone for payment processing. Consumers can use Tap to Pay with the iPhone Xs or later running the latest iOS version, as well as with Apple Watch, with no additional hardware required.
"Starting today, Adyen, ANZ Bank, Stripe, Windcave and Worldline are the first payment platforms in New Zealand to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone," the company said in a statement. Apple noted that payment apps in New Zealand, including me&u and Timely, will also have Tap to Pay on iPhone available at launch.
Payments will be securely completed using NFC technology, and supports contactless credit and debit cards from leading payment networks, including American Express, Discover, JCB, Mastercard and Visa. As in other countries, all transactions made using Tap to Pay on iPhone are encrypted and processed using the Secure Element.
New Zealand follows Canada, which also recently implemented Tap to Pay on iPhones. Other countries currently supporting Tap to Pay include Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, the UK, and most countries in the EU.
The Tap to Pay technology between iPhones was first introduced in 2022 in the US. Earlier in 2024, the service was made available for Zettle and Venmo users via PayPal.