Accept payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone
About Tap to Pay
Accept contactless payments anywhere on-the-go with just your iPhone – no card reader needed. With Tap to Pay on iPhone, you can securely accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and payment cards with NFC (near field communication) chips wherever you are. From your Point of Sale app, simply enter an amount to charge and have your customer tap their device or card to complete the transaction.
Before you begin
Tap to Pay on iPhone has a per-transaction limit for contactless payments of £25,000 and a per-transaction limit for physical contactless cards of £100.
To accept payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone, you need to do the following:
Use an iPhone XS or newer. To check if your device is compatible, go to our device compatibility page. Tap to Pay on iPhone is not available on iPads.
Make sure your iOS software is updated to the latest version.
Make sure your iPhone’s Date & Time settings are set to automatic.
Set and require a passcode for your iPhone.
Have a stable internet connection. Offline payments are not supported with Tap to Pay on iPhone. Learn how to process offline payments.
If you use a phone case that holds physical cards, we recommend removing them from your phone case to prevent accidentally charging your own card while Tap to Pay on iPhone is enabled. You can also disable NFC in your iPhone device settings when you aren’t processing Tap to Pay payments.
Set up your iPhone Tap to Pay on iPhone
If you’re not already signed in to your iPhone, go to Settings > Sign in to your iPhone. If you’re already signed in, you’ll see your name at the top of the Settings screen.
If you haven’t already, turn on and set a passcode for your iPhone by going to Settings > Face ID & Passcode.
You can enable Tap to Pay on iPhone at any time through your compatible Point of Sale app.
- Open your Point of Sale app and tap ≡ More > Settings > Account.
- Select Tap to Pay on iPhone and toggle Tap to Pay on iPhone ON.
- Verify that the correct Apple ID is shown. If not, select Use a Different Apple ID.
- Tap Agree & Continue to turn on Tap to Pay on iPhone.
Once the account owner enables Tap to Pay, the banner at the top of the screen will read ✓ Tap to Pay, and all team members under the same account with an eligible device will automatically be able to use Tap to Pay on iPhone.
Accept payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone
For the best results when taking a Tap to Pay payment, the card or NFC device should be placed on the front of your iPhone near the Hold Here to Pay icon.
From the Square Point of Sale app with retail, bookings, full-service, quick-service or standard mode enabled, or from the Square Retail Point of Sale app or the Square Appointments POS app:
- When you’re ready to check out, tap Charge.
- Select Tap to Pay and have your customer hold their card or NFC device to the front of your iPhone.
- You’ll hear an audible beep, then a spinning circle will appear while the payment is authorising.
- The payment isn’t successfully accepted until a tick with the word ‘Approved’ or the Visa or Mastercard logo appears.
From the Square Point of Sale app with services mode enabled or from the Square Invoices app:
- When you’re ready to accept a payment for an invoice, go to Invoices and select an invoice.
- Tap Add payment to choose the amount to charge, then tap Next.
- Select Tap to Pay and hold the card or NFC device to the front of your iPhone.
- You’ll hear an audible beep, then a spinning circle will appear while the payment is authorising.
- The payment isn’t successfully accepted until a tick with the word ‘Approved’ or the Visa or Mastercard logo appears.
Security practices for Tap to Pay on iPhone
To make sure payments are processed securely:
Never hand your mobile device over to your customer. Have the customer hold out their card or NFC device, or hand it to you, to tap on your iPhone.
As your customer is tapping their card or NFC device, watch for a spinning circle while the payment is being authorised. This will be accompanied by an audible beep and vibration. The payment is not accepted until you see a tick and ‘Approved’ or the VISA or Mastercard logo.
Review your Transactions to check if a Tap to Pay payment was successfully accepted. Tap to Pay transactions are registered as a Card payment and have the card type and last four digits of the card number displayed.
You can remove unused payment types from the checkout screen on your Point of Sale app. Learn how to customise payment types on Square Point of Sale.
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Require a passcode entry to prevent customers from backing out of the Tap to Pay on iPhone payment screen:
Open your Point of Sale app and select ≡ More > Settings > Security.
Toggle Passcodes ON and select the To back out of customer-facing payment screen option.
Troubleshoot Tap to Pay on iPhone
A generic ‘Something’s wrong’ error message may appear on your device for a few different reasons, including:
Your iOS software is out of date on your iPhone. To check whether your software is up to date, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
Your device’s Date & Time settings aren’t set to automatic.
Your internet connection is unstable.
You’re signed in using a device code.
Your employee doesn’t have the correct permission settings.
You’ve returned to your Point of Sale app after backgrounding the app or switching to another application.
You’ve dismissed or backgrounded your Point of Sale app during the Apple ID linking step.
If none of the reasons apply, force-close and reopen your Point of Sale app, and make sure you complete the linking of your Apple ID without dismissing or backgrounding the app.
If a ‘Payment failed’ screen appears, the payment did not process and the customer has not been charged. For security reasons, you cannot retry the payment and you will need to ask the customer to tap their card or NFC device again.