Apple Opens Up NFC to Third-Party Apps in EU, Allowing New Tap-to-Pay Options

As part of major changes being made to the app ecosystem in the EU in iOS 17.4, Apple is allowing apps to access and use the iPhone's NFC chip.

apple pay feature dynamic island
Going forward, NFC payments will be available directly in apps without the need for Apple Pay or the Wallet app, paving the way for third-party payment services and banks to offer their own tap-to-pay solutions on Apple devices.

‌iPhone‌ users can set a default app that will be activated when an ‌iPhone‌ is near an NFC terminal or when the side button on the device is double clicked, which means native support for tap-to-pay payments that are not ‌Apple Pay‌ is now available.

Apple will require apps using NFC for payments to confirm to industry security standards, such as having valid agreements with an authorized Payment Service Provider.

This access to NFC technology is limited to banking and wallet apps that are in the European Economic Area, which includes the 27 European Union countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Latest iPhone 17 Series CAD Images in Line With Redesign Rumors

Friday February 28, 2025 2:51 am PST by
Apple is expected to embrace a new camera system design for some models in its upcoming iPhone 17 series, and the latest purported CAD images don't deviate from what we have been hearing lately about Apple's new lineup. If you do not like the sound of an iPhone with a Google Pixel-style camera bar, look away now. Seasoned leaker Sonny Dickson shared the following images in a post on X...
iphone 16e usb c feature

Apple Provides Reason for iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe

Friday February 28, 2025 4:39 am PST by
Apple has offered a reason why the iPhone 16e doesn't include MagSafe, one of the more notable omissions from its latest entry-level smartphone. According to Apple representatives who spoke to Daring Fireball's John Gruber, MagSafe is not included in the iPhone 16e because "most people in the iPhone 16e's target audience exclusively charge their phones by plugging them into a charging...
apple intelligence black

These New Apple Intelligence Features Are Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday February 28, 2025 3:17 pm PST by
iOS 18.4 was supposed to bring new Apple Intelligence Siri features, but Apple ended up needing to pull those capabilities from the update to continue testing. There are fewer new Apple Intelligence additions now, but there are still some new features that will make the update worth installing when it comes out in April. Priority Notifications Apple introduced Priority Notifications back at ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Rumored to Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Saturday March 1, 2025 11:00 am PST by
iOS 19 is still around three months away from being unveiled, but there are plenty of rumors about the upcoming update. Below, we recap iOS 19 rumors so far. Redesigned Camera App A leak earlier this year allegedly revealed a redesigned Camera app coming with iOS 19. On his YouTube channel Front Page Tech in January, Jon Prosser shared a video showing what the new Camera app will...
cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
apple c1

How Fast is Apple's First-Ever 5G Modem? The Results Are Surprising

Friday February 28, 2025 10:08 am PST by
iPhone 16e reviews are now out, and Apple's custom-designed C1 modem has been put to the test. The results so far are quite surprising, as the C1's speeds are not as slow compared to Qualcomm modems as originally expected. While the C1 does not support ultra-fast mmWave 5G in the U.S., it appears to offer comparable 5G performance to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X71 modem found in the iPhone 16,...

Top Rated Comments

mthomas184 Avatar
14 months ago
The downside to this, I can easily see banks in the EU removing support for Apple Pay and if you wanna use tap to pay, you have to exclusively use their app.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LightProtector Avatar
14 months ago

and whats wrong with that?
its not that they dont want to Apple to get their cut (its ridiculously low)
its that their don't want card issuers to get their cut
Nobody wants different apps for different functions. The appeal of Apple Wallet is having everything in one place. It’s so damn inconvenient to open that app to tap. It’s counter intuitive. I would straight up switch off that bank if they did that to me.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mthomas184 Avatar
14 months ago

and whats wrong with that?
its not that they dont want to Apple to get their cut (its ridiculously low)
its that their don't want card issuers to get their cut
Luckily I don’t live in the EU so I don’t have to deal with that crap. But if it came to the US and I was forced to use my bank app for tap to pay rather than just clicking a button for Apple Pay, I would either switch banks or go back to physical cards.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DelayedGratificationGene Avatar
14 months ago

What? Timmy is not getting a cut of this? Someone hurry up and let Timmy know, this must have slipped through while he was occupied snacking some Beluga
Calling Tim Cook “Timmy” is just about as cringe as it can get.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rb24 Avatar
14 months ago

and whats wrong with that?
its not that they dont want to Apple to get their cut (its ridiculously low)
its that their don't want card issuers to get their cut

Nobody wants different apps for different functions. The appeal of Apple Wallet is having everything in one place. It’s so damn inconvenient to open that app to tap. It’s counter intuitive. I would straight up switch off that bank if they did that to me.
Totally agree. I have more than one bank. Then there are boarding cards, tickets etc. So I want Apple Wallet to launch when there's an NFC reader, not some dumb bank.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
danakin Avatar
14 months ago
Trying to get in ahead of the first Mensa member (big sarcasm) suggesting Apple leave the EU.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)