Apple will reportedly let your iPhone turn into a payment terminal
The service will roll out in the "coming months," according to a report.
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Apple is developing a new service that effectively turns your iPhone into a payment terminal. This will allow businesses to accept payments directly onto an iPhone without any additional hardware, according to a Bloomberg report published Thursday.
The feature has been anticipated since Apple's acquisition of Canadian start-up Mobeewave for $100 million in 2020. The startup is credited for developing a technology that accepts payments with a tap of the phone.
A service like this would mean merchants would no longer need third-party hardware, including the devices made by Square, and would reportedly integrate tap-to-pay tech on iPhones. Customers would be able to make payments by tapping the back of the merchant's devices with a credit card or another iPhone, the report says. iPhones would likely rely on the NFC chip for this upcoming service.
Apple is preparing to rollout the feature "in the coming months", the report says. On Jan. 26 Apple released iOS 15.3, its latest software update for iPhones and iPads that fix several security flaws, including a Safari bug that lets websites you visit see your browsing history and other personal data.
Apple didn't immediately respond to a CNET request for comment.