Apple's new Tap to Pay feature is finally coming to an app that you actually use.
As reported by MacRumors, payment giant PayPal held its quarterly earnings call today. In addition to the call, the company released an earnings report which, among other things, revealed that the company would be adding Apple's Tap to Pay feature to its PayPal and Venmo iOS app "soon."
Specifically, the company said that "leveraging Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone technology, U.S. merchant customers will soon be able to accept contactless debit or credit cards and mobile wallets, including Apple Pay, using an iPhone and the PayPal or Venmo iOS app."
Tap to Pay is going to eat Square's lunch
The feature, which Apple announced back in February, will allow businesses to accept payments with their iPhone - without the need for an external device like Square's payment hardware.
Instead of tapping their iPhone or card to an external device, customers will just tap their iPhone or NFC-enabled debit or credit card directly on the business owner's iPhone. Apple is even rolling out the feature to all of its retail stores.
Payment processor Stripe started rolling out support for Tap to Pay back in the spring, but it's been a while since other popular payment apps have been waiting for the peer-to-peer payment feature.
Apple says that the feature will "empower millions of merchants across the US, from small businesses to large retailers, to use their iPhone to seamlessly and securely accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets through a simple tap to their iPhone — no additional hardware or payment terminal needed."
Apple's Tap to Pay feature is a direct competitor to Square, which has historically sold external devices in order to allow payment for most businesses. With Apple Pay and Apple Tap to Pay, the company could make a sizeable cut into Square's business. Square has launched support for Apple's Tap to Pay feature, but the company is sure to have to give Apple a cut of its business when customers and businesses choose to use that payment method.
Update on Friday, November 4: Correction. Square has launched support for Tap to Pay.
