PayPal has conducted an official launch of a new “Tap to Pay” feature for the iPhone users in Germany, allowing effortless and contactless in-store payments. This initiative comes after some recent regulatory reforms within the European Union that forced Apple to make Near Field Communication (NFC) technology open to external parties, thus becoming a significant step in the European digital payments scene.
Before now, the NFC chip in iPhone was limited to Apple Pay payment implying that a third-party app such as PayPal could not allow tap-to-pay feature in its services directly. However, under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, DMA, Apple had to provide access to the NFC chip to other payment systems, which opened space for innovations such as the new PayPal service. This step is seen as a huge win for competition and choice for the consumer in the mobile payments space.
With this new feature, the iPhone users in Germany can now check out with the PayPal app, at physical retail terminals which accept Mastercard. The service only works with iPhones and does not include other Apple products such as the Apple Watch. This is a significant step forward in PayPal’s efforts to become further ingrained into people’s everyday lives, especially, as increasingly more consumers go digital and mobile first for payments.
Germany is the second country where PayPal rolls out its Tap to Pay on iPhone after the US where the new service was launched in September 2023. In the U.S as well, PayPal introduced contactless payments on iPhones through its Venmo and Zettle platforms while simultaneously combining its PayPal Debit Card with Apple Wallet providing convenience for millions of users.
The deployment in Germany indicates an increased PayPal interest in the European market whereby adoption of digital payment is in rapid high gear. This action is also timed strategically, as PayPal is now able to leverage the regulatory support and change in consumer behavior towards mobile and contactless payments.
In addition, this improvement places PayPal in a better competitive position against Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other forms of digital wallets. Not only does the company improve the user experience with iPhone Mastercard by allowing its users to make contactless payment through PayPal, but it also boosts engagement in its financial environment.
In conclusion, Tap to Pay launch by PayPal on iPhones in Germany is a strategic move exploiting regulatory change to open new capabilities. It is a reflection of the bigger picture in which the company strives to make the digital payments more convenient and connected from device to device as well as geographies.
