From today onwards, small businesses and individuals selling stuff at carboot sales or markets will find it much easier to take money without handling cash, nor the faff of using a separate card-reader gizmo.
They can now accept these payments in person directly from customers who either have a conventional contactless payment-card, or those who already have Apple Pay enabled on their own iPhone or Apple Watch.
The launch of Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone scheme in the UK on Thursday 13 July, means that London’s army of micro-entrepreneurs and side-hustlers can easily accept payments using a participating payment-processing iOS app, so long as they have at least an iPhone XS handset that runs iOS 16.4 or newer.
Merchants will not need to rely on any other card readers or point-of-sale hardware to use this service, but they will need an account with a payment-processing app that is offering Tap to Pay on iPhone.
Revolut and Tyl by NatWest are the first payment platforms to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their customers, but Apple says that Adyen, Dojo, myPOS, Stripe, SumUp, Viva Wallet, Worldline and Zettle by PayPal will be joining the scheme soon.
“We’ve seen Tap to Pay on iPhone transform the checkout experience for so many different types of businesses, and we’re thrilled to now support merchants across the UK by offering an easy, secure, and private way to accept contactless payments using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone, with no additional hardware needed,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
“Small and medium-sized businesses have long played a vital role in the UK economy, and alongside payment platforms, app developers, and payment networks, we’re making it easier than ever for UK businesses to seamlessly accept contactless payments and continue to grow their business.”
Similar to Apple Pay, which is accepted across the UK by most retailers of all sizes, people can make payments using their iPhones or Apple Watch, even if they do not have an active mobile-internet connection or their smartphone is in low-power mode.
And merchants will be able to take payments even if their iPhones can only access a 3G connection. Tap to Pay on iPhone will work as long as there is internet connectivity, regardless of whether it is a Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
The Standard has approached SumUp, Zettle by PayPal and Dojo — three of the most popular point of sale card-reader payment platforms used by small businesses in the UK — for comment.
While these services have each confirmed that they are excited to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone soon, they are not revealing the details about whether merchants will need to pay any additional fees in order to use Apple’s new service. For the moment, these details remain scarce.
Tap to Pay on iPhone launched in the US last June. Payment processor firm Square, for instance, charges its merchants 2.6% in fees, plus 10 cents for each tap.
‘I would definitely try it out’
Natty Peeps, 56, is a designer, artist and maker who has been selling her line of hand-crafted crocheted items and knitwear at Greenwich Market since 2013.
She owns two SumUp devices — one with a mobile chip, powered by solar, and one that has to be connected to her iPhone 12 in order to accept contactless payments from customers.
“It's really frustrating using the payment apps and devices. They work most of the time but often you wait for a really long time,” Ms Peeps told The Standard.
The problem is not with SumUp, as the devices often work at markets in other locations in the UK, she stressed, but often with congested mobile networks in Greenwich and central London, where getting a 4G or 5G signal is sometimes a struggle. And if the battery runs out on the device, she is stuck.
In typical ‘computer says no’ fashion, Ms Peeps said that sometimes her phone picks up the SumUp devices belonging to neighbouring stall vendors, or her device cannot be detected at all.
“It has happened that you miss out on some sales, so with some of the traders at the Greenwich Market, we have known each other for years, so we help each other out to accept payments from customers and send each other invoices,” she explained.
“We know how important any sale is at the moment.”
Ms Peep said that she is definitely interested in the idea of Apple’s new service if it will be easier for her to take payments quickly. However, it will depend on whether she will need to pay further fees to Apple on top of the monthly 1.69 per cent commission that she currently pays SumUp.
As the Standard understands, Apple does not charge merchants to use the contactless payments feature.
“I would definitely try it out and see how it functions and see how helpful it is, but if I’m paying two fees, on a £3 item, it’s not worth it,” she said.
“If it costs more money, I would have it as a backup payment system when SumUp doesn’t work, but if it is very useful then I might use it more often.”
