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North American Bancard has joined a growing list of processors offering Tap to Pay on iPhone or its Android-based equivalent to merchants for contactless transactions.
A big advantage of Tap to Pay on iPhone, especially for small and micro-merchants, is that it enables them to accept in-person contactless payments on an iPhone without additional hardware, such as a card reader. The engine behind the technology is SoftPOS, a software application that allows merchants to accept contactless transactions with nothing more than an off-the-shelf smart phone. SoftPOS versions have been introduced for both Apple and Android devices.
To accept a payment using Tap to Pay on iPhone, merchants prompt consumers to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch, or a contactless credit or debit card, near the merchant’s iPhone. The payment from the consumer’s card or digital wallet is then completed using NFC technology.
When a payment is processed, all transaction data is encrypted. In addition, Apple Inc. does not store card numbers on the device or on its servers, North American Bancard says. North American Bancard is making Tap to Pay on iPhone available to merchants through its Payanywhere iOS app, which can be downloaded from the Apple store.
“The payments landscape is constantly evolving, and we are proud to be at the forefront of change to ensure that we give businesses and their customers all the tools they need to pay efficiently and safely,” Jim Parkinson, chief experience officer for North American Bancard, said in a statement.
Since Apple’s introduction of Tap to Pay on iPhone in 2022, several processors including Stripe Inc., Square (Block Inc.’s processing unit), and Adyen NV have begun offering the technology.
Similar capability for Android phones is available from technology companies such as MagicCube Inc., a Santa Clara-Calif.-based company that markets softPOS technology called iAccept.
