PayPal Contactless Payments Now Available to German iPhone Users, Thanks to New EU Rules
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Earlier this month, PayPal announced that it would bring contactless iPhone payments to Germany, and it appears to have made good on that promise. As reported by German site iPhone Ticker, some PayPal customers in Germany have reported they can now access PayPal as a contactless payment alternative to Apple Pay.
PayPal can finally offer these features after the European Union’s Digital Markets Act forced Apple to open up access to the NFC chip in the iPhone to developers of third-party wallet and payment apps. This allows third-party payment systems to offer their own tap-to-pay solutions without the need to go through Apple Pay or the Apple Wallet app.
European Union users can select which app will be activated by default when an iPhone nears an NFC-capable payment terminal or when the iPhone’s side button is double-clicked. This will enable PayPal users to set it as their default app, allowing them to make quick payments for purchases in-store wherever contactless Mastercard payments are accepted.
If PayPal is not set as the default payment method, contactless payments can still be made by opening up the PayPal app.
NFC access is available for banking and wallet apps in the European Economic Area (EEA), which comprises the 27 European Union countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
While Germany is the first EU test market for PayPal contactless payments, it will likely roll the feature out to other Eurpean Union countries in the coming months. German iPhone users will need to make sure their device has the latest version of the PayPal app installed, as well as a compatible Matercard debit or credit card attached. PayPal can be used in retail stores where Mastercard payments are accepted.
Although EU iPhone users can now use PayPal’s tap-to-pay feature on their iPhones, the same feature is not available on the Apple Watch, as the EU’s new rules do not require Apple to open up NFC access on the Apple Watch.
PayPal contactless payments on the iPhone are not available in the United States or other regions of the world, as those locations do not have rules that require Apple to expand NFC access on the iPhone. Although Apple opened up contactless payments globally in iOS 18.1, we haven’t seen any developers jumping on this yet, possibly due to Apple making the process more complex in countries where regulators aren’t forcing the company to keep it simple.
To attract customers to use PayPal instead of Apple Pay, PayPal is offering cashback promotions within the PayPal app and will eventually introduce a pay-over-time feature, allowing customers to make purchases with six, 12, or 24 monthly installments.
Norwegian payment service Vipps launched the world’s first Apple Pay competitor on the iPhone in December 2024, allowing Vipps users in Norway to make contactless payments in stores using their iPhones. Approximately 70% of Norwegian bank customers can use the service, which offers support for customers of SpareBank 1, DNB, and over 40 other Norwegian banks.
Vipps’ solution works with payment terminals that accept BankAxept cards, Norway’s national payment system. That means it can be used at more than 90% of payment terminals in the country. The company plans to offer support for Visa and Mastercard cards in the coming months, with worldwide payment capabilities expected by this summer.
Apple is required to make NFC access available for banking and wallet apps in the European Economic Area, which includes 27 European Union countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
