Tap to Pay - Frequently Asked Questions

Your region or payment service provider may require a certain iOS version for you to use the payment application with Tap to Pay on iPhone. See the list of supported regions and payment service providers.

Update to the latest iOS version for the best experience.

All payments you accept with Tap to Pay on iPhone are processed by your payment service provider and then put into your bank account.

The payment service provider is the entity you've registered your business with for payment processing. The payment service provider can also be the developer of the app that you use to collect payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone. If you have any questions about payments, talk to your payment service provider.

Tap to Pay on iPhone allows payment service providers to turn on PIN-based transactions in iOS 16.0 and later.

After the customer taps their card, Tap to Pay on iPhone prompts the customer to enter their PIN using Apple's secure PIN entry interface.

Ask your payment service provider if they support PIN-based transactions in your payment application.

From the PIN entry screen, tap Accessibility Options to turn on the accessibility mode for PIN entry.

If accessibility mode is on, the device reads out loud these instructions for PIN entry:

• Tap once for 1, tap twice for 2, and so on. Tap ten times for 0.
• Pause between taps for each digit. The device plays a sound to confirm entry for each digit.
• Swipe right with two fingers to confirm the PIN.
• Swipe left with two fingers to delete the last PIN digit entered.
• Swipe down with two fingers to cancel the payment.
• Swipe up with two fingers to read out loud the number of PIN digits entered.

You can use the side buttons on your iPhone to adjust volume as needed.

To turn off accessibility mode, tap Turn Off Accessibility Options.

PIN entry times out after 5 minutes. The accessibility mode turns off automatically if the Tap to Pay on iPhone interface times out or is dismissed.

You can turn on the Tap to Pay Screen Lock setting for your payment app to lock your device's screen during PIN entry. After the customer completes or cancels their PIN entry, unlock the device to continue the transaction.

On your iPhone, go to Settings > [your payment app], then turn on Tap to Pay Screen Lock.

No. Tap to Pay on iPhone won't have a noticeable impact on battery life.

First, follow the link in your Tap to Pay on iPhone welcome email to sign in to Apple Business Register. Confirm your business information to see your Tap to Pay on iPhone connection and your Merchant ID.

From the list of Merchant IDs, select Remove and confirm for each merchant account ID to unlink your Apple ID from Tap to Pay on iPhone.

When the Merchant ID list is empty, your Apple ID is no longer linked to Tap to Pay on iPhone.

The performance of contactless cards can vary based on the card design, such as the card material or the location of the antenna. As a result, some cards connect more easily than others.

Try the following to ensure a successful card read:

• First, ask the customer to hold their contactless payment card directly on the device with the chip on the left side and the longer side of the card lined up with the edge of the tap area for several seconds.
• If the card still doesn't read, ask the customer to slide the card to center the chip directly over the notch on the device.
• If the contactless card remains unread without any feedback from the interface, the card might have a damaged antenna or might not work with contactless payments.

You can remove the existing Apple ID associated with your business, and then accept the Tap to Pay on iPhone Terms and Conditions again with your preferred Apple ID.

• First, follow the link in your Tap to Pay on iPhone welcome email to sign in to Apple Business Register. Confirm your business information to see your Tap to Pay on iPhone connection and your Merchant ID.
• From the list of Merchant IDs, select Remove and confirm to unlink the Apple ID from your business account.

The next time you open your payments app, you'll be prompted again to accept the Tap to Pay on iPhone Terms and Conditions. Accept the terms and conditions with your preferred Apple ID.

If the transaction amount is higher than the contactless CVM limit and the shopper uses an NFC-capable card, the terminal indicates to the card that a CVM is required. The card then indicates to the terminal whether a signature or PIN is required. In the case of a PIN, this always means an Online PIN is the actual CVM. This means an NFC transaction over the CVM limit, requiring a PIN, can't be processed offline.

The previous is for standard POS/IPP Terminals. For merchants running Tap2Pay (T2P), this is why the merchant will need a backup standard EMV-capable IPP/POS terminal (see next). In those cases, the cardholder is directed to the EMV-capable terminal to respond to security challenges.

For further documentation, refer to CVM Lists in this Adyen doc.

Tap to Pay transactions are EMV contactless transactions, so the applicable Card Verification Method (CVM) limits on cards are leading. This means that if the transaction is above the CVM limit, the shopper will need to use their CVM to confirm the transaction.

If the shopper pays with Apple Pay or any other digital wallet, the CVM is performed on the shopper's device

If the shopper pays with a physical card that has signature as the preferred CVM (this is most of the US-issued cards): in theory, the shopper signs on the iPhone, but this isn't mandatory by the schemes and it's also not preferred by merchants because it slows down the checkout process. In practice, the transaction will go through without the shopper having to sign.

If the shopper pays with a physical card that has an online PIN as the preferred CVM: If the transaction is above the CVM limit, the PIN screen will come up on the iPhone and the shopper will have to insert their PIN. The issuer will then validate the PIN.

If the shopper pays with a physical card that has an offline PIN as the preferred CVM: Offline PIN is not supported by Tap to Pay on iPhone.

Offline PIN means that the card validates the PIN and the shopper has to insert their card in the payment terminal to do the validation. In the case of a Tap to Pay solution, there's no way to insert the card. Which means offline PIN is not supported.

Merchants should have a backup payment terminal in the store. If the shopper only has a card with offline PIN, they will have to do the payment on a payment terminal.

Cards issued with offline PIN are more present in the UK and France.

Offline PIN is triggered

• If the transaction is above the CVM limit
• If the maximum amount of consecutive contactless transactions has been reached (this is what we call a counter and it varies from issuer to issuer)
• For any other reason that the issuer ‌has, for example to activate the card.

For all of these use cases, Tap to Pay on iPhone can't be used. The shopper will have to use a payment terminal instead and insert the card.

It depends if it's online or offline PIN. If online, the customer will use the iPhone (PoG — PIN on Glass).

If offline PIN, see refer to question: What happens if the shopper has a card with offline PIN as the preferred CVM?

• Apple Tap to Pay on iPhone
• Tap to Pay on iPhone Merchant Frequently asked questions
• Adyen Tap to Pay on iPhone

We also recommend visiting the EMVCo website and reviewing their EMV Mobile area, among the other EMV areas:

• EMV® Mobile
• EMV® Technologies
• EMVCo Knowledge Hub