What is Tap on Phone and How To Use It To Accept Contactless Payments

Tap to Pay is Here To Stay

Contactless payments have become the new buzzword across Europe. Two in three Europeans report using them. In 2021, eight out of ten in-store transactions in Europe were contactless. Figures such as these speak a lot and are something that merchants cannot ignore.

Contactless payments, also called Tap to Pay, use NFC technology to smoothly and securely make payments in-store. Customers can make a contactless payment by tapping their contactless card or mobile phone to the merchant contactless POS terminal. They do not have to type a PIN, enter their payment details, or sign.

But in its newest avatar – Tap on Phone – merchants can accept contactless payments using just their mobile phone – no need for costly equipment or extra hardware. This technology is now available to merchants across Europe. Several biggies like Visa, Mastercard, and Apple, have announced rollouts of their Tap on Phone initiatives.

What is Tap On Phone?

Tap on Phone, also called Tap to Phone, is a software solution that enables merchants to accept contactless payments using their Android or Apple phone.

As a merchant, you can download the app from your acquirer onto your NFC-enabled mobile phone (most modern smartphones come with NFC). Once you have downloaded the app, your phone acts as an NFC-enabled point-of-sale terminal. You can straight away start accepting payments from a customer’s contactless card or mobile wallet with your phone. You don’t need any extra hardware or card readers.

How Does It Work?

At checkout, a customer simply taps their contactless card or mobile device (either a smartphone, smartwatch, fitness tracker) to your mobile phone. The customer’s payment device sends out a one-time code containing encrypted payment details via NFC to your phone to authorize the payment. This one-time code is like a token for that specific transaction only. The customer does not have to share any other details, such as their name, account number, PIN, CVV, or billing address.

Where Can You Use Tap on Phone?

• If you are a small or mid-sized business, or have a mobile venue, Tap on Phone is a flexible, low-cost, and scalable solution that is ideal for you. You can easily accept contactless payments from customers using your phone without any fuss and zero-touch.
• If you are a business offering curbside checkout, Tap on Phone allows your customers to seamlessly pick up and pay for an order on the go and without any physical contact.
• If you offer Pay on delivery, your customers can tap and pay for their deliveries at their doorstep. This eliminates the need to accept cash and reduces contact between you and your customer – which is pretty ideal, given safety and health concerns from the pandemic.
• Tap on Phone reduces wait times in queues at your store. Customers can complete their checkout quickly, allowing you to process more orders and increase sales.

What Are The Benefits?

There are quite a few benefits Tap on Phone offers, such as:

• No terminal required – Merchants don’t need any extra equipment, terminals, or card readers. A simple NFC-enabled Android or iOS phone with a Tap on Phone app is enough to accept contactless payments.
• Contactless acceptance – Merchants can easily accept contactless payments from customers’ contactless cards or smart devices. The payment info is transferred wirelessly and securely between the two devices via NFC. Hence, the entire process is touch-free.
• Digital receipt – You can send your customers a digital receipt via email or text message. The customer does not need to sign anything at checkout and directly gets the bill in their inbox.
• Easy solution integration – You can easily integrate your Tap on Phone solution to other business functions like invoicing, inventory management, and reporting to mine a wealth of payments data. Additionally, you can use these insights to create a more engaging and intuitive shopping experience for your customers.

How Can Novalnet Help?

As a global PSP, many of Europe’s leading brands trust us with their payments. We can guide you on how to make your payments more efficient. We help you accept payments globally in 125+ currencies in 150+ automated country-specific payment methods. Set up your payments within minutes with minimal coding using our instant payment plug-ins. With our AI-based risk management solutions and advanced analytics, you can design the best payment experiences for your customers, all in a fully secure environment.

Reach out to us to know more about how to use tap to pay for your business.

Jose Augustine

Jose Augustine is the Chief Business Development Officer at Novalnet with extensive experience in European payment industry and a knowledge powerhouse.