Nexi, Stripe and Adyen launch Apple Tap to Pay in Italy

MILAN (Reuters) – Payments companies Nexi, Stripe and Adyen have started offering businesses in Italy the ability to accept payments from customers using Apple iPhones, they said on Wednesday.

Apple Tap to Pay uses a wireless technology called near-field communication (NFC), which allows data to be exchanged between devices over short distances.

Nexi, the largest payments group in Europe in terms of the volume of processed transactions, has already offered store owners the opportunity to use their phones to process payments using the NexiSoftPOS application.

However, until now it could only be used on phones running the Android operating system and not on Apple iOS devices.

Using a smartphone to make payments is particularly useful for small stores, which can thus avoid having to pay for specific equipment.

The Dutch Adyen group, which provides e-commerce services mainly to large corporate clients but is expanding its offer to include stationary stores, also announced that it is launching the Tap to Pay service. The Milanese luxury brand Prada offered it in its stores, starting in the Italian fashion capital.

Stripe, which competes with Adyen in providing payment services to businesses, said it was acquiring Apple’s service.

“Tap to pay on iPhone means Italian businesses can now accept contactless payments using a device many of us already carry in our pockets,” said Ruhi Dang, Stripe product manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Keith Weir)