- A contactless payment system does not need extra hardware.
- Block’s shares rose by 7% to a new 52-week high of $89.
Apple’s iPhone will be able to use Square’s ‘tap to pay’ payment function. The new technology is still being developed and will only be tested with a small number of chosen vendors. Block will handpick the best sellers through an early access program and then work closely with them until the payment integration is ready. Block and Apple have yet to specify a release date for the ‘tap to pay’ functionality. However, according to sources, Apple customers will be able to utilize the new payment relationship before the end of the year.
According to Block, customers will be able to use their iPhones and the Square Point of Sale (POS) app to make contactless payments in person. A contactless payment system does not need extra hardware, such as card swipe devices.
Focusing on Payments and Fintech
According to Apple, ‘tap to pay’ will be available initially to Stripe and Shopify Point customers in the United States. After its release, the feature will be made available to a broader audience. Block’s shares rose by 7% to a new 52-week high of $89 on the announcement of the company’s partnership with Apple.
Apple will now be able to use Block to expand its payment network even further. Since the debut of its credit cards in partnership with Goldman Sachs in 2019, Apple has been introducing additional financial offerings.
Apple is also working on a ‘buy now, pay later’ service technological development. It’s not clear how much information has been made public regarding the development, and Apple has kept its internal workings under wraps. As reported by Reuters, an Apple financial expert said, the company is now focusing on payments and fintech. Jack Dorsey has been a Bitcoin advocate and stepped down as Twitter CEO to focus on Block and crypto payments.
