Accept payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone
About Tap to Pay
Accept contactless payments anywhere on-the-go with just your iPhone — no card reader needed. With Tap to Pay on iPhone, you can securely accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and payment cards with NFC (Near Field Communication) chips wherever you are. From your Square app, simply enter an amount to charge, and have your customer tap their device or card to complete the transaction.
Before you begin
Tap to Pay on iPhone is currently available with Square Point of Sale, Square Retail POS, Square Appointments POS, and Square Invoices. Check out device compatibility to view compatible devices.
Tap to Pay on iPhone has a per-transaction limit for contactless payments of $50,000, and a per-transaction limit for physical contactless cards of $10,000.
If you use a phone case that holds physical cards, we recommend removing them from your phone case to prevent accidentally charging your own card while Tap to Pay on iPhone is enabled. You can also disable NFC in your iPhone device settings when you aren’t processing Tap to Pay payments.
You'll need an iPhone XS or newer, and the phone must be running iOS 15.5 or later, to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. Tap to Pay is not currently available on iPad.
Set up Tap to Pay on iPhone
If you haven’t already, set a passcode for your iPhone by going to Settings > Face ID & Passcode. To use tap to Pay on iPhone, your device requires a device passcode.
You can enable Tap to Pay on iPhone at any time through your compatible Square app.
- Sign in to your Square Point of Sale app and tap ≡ More > Settings > Account.
- Select Tap to Pay and toggle on Tap to Pay.
- Verify the correct Apple ID is shown. If not, select Use a Different Apple ID.
- Tap Agree & Continue to turn on Tap to Pay on iPhone.
Once the account owner enables Tap to Pay, the banner at the top of the screen will read ✓ Tap to Pay, and all team members under the same account with an eligible device will automatically be able to use Tap to Pay on iPhone.
To prepare your iPhone to use Tap to Pay:
- Make sure your iPhone is running iOS 15.5 or higher. To check if your software is up to date, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
- If you haven’t already, set a passcode for your iPhone by going to Settings > Face ID & Passcode. Tap to Pay on iPhone requires a device passcode.
- If you’re not already signed in to your iPhone, go to Settings > Sign in to your iPhone. If you’re already signed in, you’ll see your name at the top of the Settings screen.
Accept payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone
For the best results when taking a Tap to Pay payment, the card or NFC device should be placed on the front of your iPhone near the Hold Here to Pay icon.
- When you’re ready to check out, tap Charge.
- Select Tap to Pay and have your customer hold their card or NFC device to the front of your iPhone. You’ll hear an audible beep once the payment is accepted, signifying a successful transaction.
- When you’re ready to accept a payment for an invoice, go to Invoices and select an invoice.
- Tap Add payment to choose the amount to charge, then tap Next.
- Select Tap to Pay and hold the card or NFC device to the front of your iPhone. You’ll hear an audible beep once the payment is accepted, signifying a successful transaction.
Security practices for Tap to Pay on iPhone
To ensure payments are processed securely:
Never hand your mobile device over to your customer. Have the customer hold out their card or NFC device, or hand it to you, to tap on your iPhone.
As your customer is tapping their card or NFC device, watch for the screen to show the transaction as Approved. This will be accompanied by an audible beep and vibration to confirm that the payment has been accepted.
Review your Transactions to check if a Tap to Pay payment was successfully accepted. Tap to Pay transactions are registered as a Card payment and have the card type and last 4 digits of the card number displayed.
You can remove unused payment types by navigating to ≡ More > Settings > Checkout > Payment.
Enable passcodes on your device. This will require a passcode entry when backing out of the Tap to Pay on iPhone payment screen. Navigate to ≡ More > Settings > Security and turn the Passcodes toggle on. Then select the option to require the passcode To back out of a customer-facing payment screen.
Troubleshoot Tap to Pay on iPhone
You may be seeing a “Something’s wrong” error message. This generic error message will show for a few reasons, including:
You're logged in using a Device Code.
Your employee doesn’t have the correct permission settings.
Your internet connection is unstable.
You've returned to the Square app after backgrounding the app or switching to another application.
You've dismissed or backgrounded the Square app during the Apple ID linking step.
If your internet connection is stable and you're logged in as the account owner or a team member with the correct permission settings, force close and reopen your Square app. Make sure to complete the linking of your Apple ID without dismissing or backgrounding the app.