Apple to Turn iPhones into Credit Card Payment Terminals | Goodbye Square?

Apple might be working on a new way to use your iPhone as a payment terminal. That way, small businesses would be able to accept payments without relying on other devices to do so. 

Currently, business owners can receive payments with their iPhones with another device’s help. One of the most popular options is called Square, from Block Inc. 

Now, according to Bloomberg, it’s possible that Apple might ditch Square’s hardware altogether and let the iPhone accept credit card payments.

It’s still unknown how this method would work or if it’s going to become part of Apple Pay, but it’s highly likely that Apple would use the iPhone’s near field communications chip, also known as NFC. 

Consumers already use the iPhone’s NFC chip to pay using iPhones with Apple Pay, so it would make sense for Apple to let businesses use it as well. 

According to the rumors, Apple began working on this technology back in 2020, when the company acquired a Canadian startup named Mobeewave for around $100 million. 

As of right now, there isn’t any confirmation as to when this new feature will arrive, but according to Bloomberg, it’s possible that Apple will release it with a future software update in the next few months, probably alongside the iOS 15.4 update, which is said to be coming in the near future. 

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With that said, we’ll still need to learn a lot more about this new feature. We’ll have to see if Apple decides to make this feature an Apple Pay exclusive feature, which would automatically compete with Square, or if the company will let business owners use any app they want. 

This isn’t the first time Apple’s made a move in the payments sector. Back in 2019, Apple introduced its first credit card and made it really easy for whole families to use it with the help of their iPhones. 

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]