Tap to Pay continues expansion, coming to Ukraine

The gradual global rollout of Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone feature continues, with Ukraine the seventh country to benefit.

The small business payment service is initially limited to the state-owned PrivatBank, and customers can get up-and-running in just a few minutes …

Tap to Pay on iPhone

Originally, small businesses that wanted to accept card payments had to buy or rent an expensive dedicated card terminal. The first models were wired, before wireless versions took over.

A neater and cheaper solution then emerged, in the form of small contactless payment devices that used a Bluetooth connection to an iPhone. The business would enter the amount into an iPhone app, and the consumer would tap the contactless device to pay.

Tap to Pay on iPhone makes things even more convenient, doing away with the need for the separate contactless box. Instead, the consumer taps their card, iPhone, or Apple Watch against the iPhone owned by the business. 

The feature was first announced in February of last year, with a gradual rollout in the US through a growing range of payment processors. It later rolled out to Taiwan, Australia, the UK, the Netherlands, and Brazil.

Comes to PrivatBank in Ukraine

PrivatBank, the largest bank in the country, made the announcement on its website.

“We are delighted to launch Tap to Pay on iPhone for entrepreneurs and businesses in Ukraine and to be providing this simple and secure solution that offers greater flexibility for accepting payments for businesses of all sizes, from street vendors to large retailers,” said Gerhard Boesch, Chairman of the Board of PrivatBank. “As a state-owned bank with the largest share of small and medium-sized businesses, we feel a great responsibility to support businesses to scale – and save – with fast, in-person payment solutions.’’

The bank said that its customers can begin using the service in just a few minutes.

PrivatBank clients can start using Tap to Pay on iPhone in just a few minutes directly in the Terminal iOS app by downloading it from the Apple App Store using an iPhone XS or later. After a simple and straightforward registration procedure, all the merchant needs to do in order to start accepting payments is open the Terminal app on their iPhone, enter the purchase amount and have the customer hold their contactless payment method near the merchant’s iPhone for the payment to be securely completed. 

The bank’s app not only handles payments but also records transactions and generates the information needed to file taxes.

Apple has added the country to its developer website (the company tactfully uses the phrase ‘countries and regions’ to avoid offending China, which claims ownership of Taiwan).