Last updated on March 23rd, 2026 at 11:10 am

Magnetic-stripe cards were the payment norm for many decades after their introduction in the early 1960s. However, fraudsters realized how easy it is to steal and clone bank account information. EMV, another payment method short for “Europay, Mastercard and Visa,” then came on the scene. Europe was an early adopter of these computer-chipped cards. Consumers instantly loved the idea of paying table-side at their favorite restaurants. Convenience is king, afterall.

While still a global standard, EMV card processing is quickly becoming outdated as more modern payment methods take over the transaction space. Below, we discuss tap to pay and how contactless cards continue to evolve.

What is Tap to Pay? 

Near field communication (NFC) technology, which allows credit cards and payment readers to communicate when they’re within a couple of inches of each other, enables tap to pay. This low-touch payment option – shoppers just tap their card to a payment reader – is growing in use from subways to coffee shops to retail stores. It’s a popular option for people who are conscious of what they touch. And while this may have been a small segment of consumers in the past, it’s more likely to be many of us now. 

Mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, etc. also power tap to pay. All you have to do is store your credit card or debit card information on your payment-enabled phone or wearable device. You use it at checkout the same way you would a card, except it is completely touch-free. Even more, you don’t even have to go through the hassle – which we all know it sometimes is – of locating and pulling out your physical card. 

In February 2022, Apple announced plans to introduce Tap to Pay on iPhone. This new capability will allow phone-to-phone payments between merchants and consumers. No additional hardware or payment terminal will be needed to accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets. It will be as easy as using an iPhone and a partner-enabled iOS app. Tap to Pay on iPhone is unlocking contactless payment acceptance at scale, making it easier for businesses of all sizes to offer tap to pay.

Benefits of Tap to Pay to the Consumer

Consumers are used to the online payment process being seamless and almost fully-automated. If it’s not just as easy to pay in-store, they’ll likely remember it as a bad experience. Friction at checkout has long been one of retail’s biggest conundrums. Shoppers are fickle and don’t have time for things that are long and complicated. They want to be able to pay quickly and conveniently. 

With tap to pay and other contactless payment options that don’t require a verification PIN or signature — and instead use touchless verification measures like Apple Face ID — you can make the overall checkout process simpler. This will also help you reduce lines and speed up average transaction times, which are vital to keeping your customers satisfied. 

Benefits of Tap to Pay to the Retailer

Many of the benefits to the consumer apply to retail brands as well. After all, a better customer experience leads to improved customer engagement and increased loyalty, which translates into more sales.

With tap to pay options in place, your store associates won’t get bogged down by typing or using additional hardware, such as physical terminals or other legacy payment technology. This will reduce how long it takes them to facilitate each transaction, boosting not only their productivity but also overall operational efficiency. You can also avoid the challenges that often come with hardware, like devices breaking, running out of battery, losing connectivity, and more. A lighter in-store tech stack is a win for your store associates and your brand aesthetic.

Contactless cards also provide protection against fraud. Each transaction has a one-time encrypted code that provides a safeguard from counterfeiting. Knowing that their personal information will never be compromised can help you quickly foster consumer trust. Security is more important to customers now than ever before, and your shoppers want to know that their data is safe in your four walls.

Tap to pay payments are also a strategic way to use the point of sale for customer capture. The information tied to the contactless payment method, such as an email address, will help build the shopper’s profile. When consumers opt-in, the brand can also seamlessly add them to their loyalty program. This has a whole host of benefits from vouchers to free gifts. Plus, you can send digital receipts without any form-filling. One less physical thing for you and the customer to handle today, and a record of purchase history in case of a return tomorrow. 

Future-Proofing Your Retail Brand 

Customers expect a seamless omnichannel experience. Whatever you offer on your ecommerce site you need to offer in your storefront. Think simplicity, speed, and safety, above all else. 

Core to achieving these things is a mobile point of sale (mPOS) system. All you need is an internet-connected device to enable transactions anywhere in your store. This includes phone-to-phone mobile checkout, which allows store associates to accept mobile payments like Apple Pay without reliance on third-party hardware. 

It can take years for a legacy POS to update to accommodate this technology or any other emerging payment method. An omnichannel POS system, on the other hand, can deploy modern payments quickly and without hassle. 

The tipping point for retail payments is here. If you don’t offer tap to pay, your consumers might be rethinking where they make purchases.

Last updated on February 4th, 2022 at 10:33 am

Apple is at it again. The company is throwing the tech community another curveball, this time by announcing Apple Card – its “new kind of credit card” designed specifically for the iPhone. Built into the Apple Wallet, it offers no fees, lower interest, and a new level of privacy and security. A likely attractive option for the brand’s loyalists.

This is the beginning of the end for traditional credit card networks. It’s also a sign of the sheer utility and dominance of the iPhone.

As a consumer device, there is almost nothing the iPhone can’t do. Think of it: Most consumers can survive in many cities with only their phone. From talk and text to maps to Apple Pay. With the latter, you can make purchases in all kinds of apps or on the web, it’s synced to major transit systems, and is accepted at 74 of the top 100 U.S. merchants.

Benefits to Consumers and Brands

While the Apple Card announcement will not shake up retail in the short-term, it will accelerate NewStore’s vision of an industry run purely on iPhones. Similar to how the taxi industry has been converted to an app industry by Uber, the retail industry is being converted to an app industry by Apple. And when we say retail, we mean end-to-end retail – from inventory and fulfillment to customer service and payments.

We see Apple Card bolstering the increasingly popular Apple Pay. Consumers will become even more accustomed to using this form of payment in-store, which will force brands to embrace it. It’s a win-win. Brands will be able to offer customers the fast and easy service they expect. Additionally, by eliminating the physical act of payment, they will keep consumers close to the brand and product. This puts the emphasis back on the experience, instead of it stopping at checkout.

From the retailer perspective, Apple Pay and now Apple Card represent an opportunity for more sales. By offering mobile payments, you unleash your store associates from the cash wrap and enable them to become a POS in all corners of the store. They will build more meaningful relationships with customers, which invites the opportunity to cross-sell and upsell. Plus, shoppers will never again not be able to buy because they left their wallet at home.

Prediction for the Future

In short, Apple Card will wipe out the Visas and the Mastercards of the world because, like many before them, Apple beat them to it. The major credit card networks had their chance to introduce a simple payment mechanism without logins and passwords. When businesses began to digitize, and brands started going customer-first, they should have jumped at the opportunity to make cashless effortless.

What Apple has done with Apple Card affirms that retail belongs on a smartphone. In the next two to three years, consumers won’t look to shop everywhere credit cards are accepted. They’ll look to shop everywhere Apple Pay is accepted.

Stephan Schambach is Founder and CEO of NewStore. Under his leadership and vision, he brought Intershop and Demandware to IPOs with multi-billion dollar market caps. In 2016, Demandware was acquired by Salesforce and is now known as Salesforce Commerce Cloud. He has won numerous awards around the world for his technology and entrepreneurial leadership, and he is the author of Makeover: How Mobile Flipped the Shopping Cart.