Apple Inc. is planning to add a new service that will let small businesses accept payments on their iPhones. They will no longer require any extra hardware to make payments, as was the case, earlier. This news was first reported by Bloomberg. People who were familiar with the matter told the outlet that extra hardware would no longer be needed to make payments.
In 2020, Apple acquired a Canadian startup called Mobeewave for roughly $100 million. This firm developed technology that lets smartphones accept payments by tapping a credit card. The service is likely to use near field communication (NFC), the chip that is currently used in iPhones to facilitate payments through Apple Pay.
As of now, small businesses use payment terminals that are plugged in or which communicate with the phone using Bluetooth. The new feature will remove the need for payment terminals. Small businesses including food trucks, hair stylists and more will be able to accept payments with a tap of a credit card or another iPhone.
So far, payments providers such as Square have been used to facilitate such payments. Block Inc.’s Square has been the market leader. If Apple allows any app to use the new technology, Square will be able to continue accepting payments through Apple devices. It would not have to worry about external devices.
If Apple asks merchants to use Apple Pay or its own processing system, then it would be in direct competition with Square.
When asked for comment by the outlet, a Block representative did not respond, immediately. However, shares of Apple rose by 2.1 percent and shares of Block fell by 3.4 percent, on Thursday.
An Apple spokesperson also declined to comment. The sources cannot confirm if Apple will rollout the feature with a partner or whether it will roll it out through its own tech company. The Cupertino based tech giant never comments on information provided by sources on any upcoming feature or service on any of its products. However, there are a bunch of Apple analysts who comment on new features and services by Apple, after talking to whom they call reliable sources. 
