How Do I Accept Apple Pay at My Business?

When you’re a business owner, small or large, you have a lot of things to juggle, and the less time you need to focus on each thing you’re juggling, the easier it is not to drop anything!.

One of the things you have to keep track of is your payment system. You need something quick, secure, and seamless. Because of that, knowing about technology like Apple Pay is key and it absolutely should be on your radar. Not only does it check all of those boxes, but also because customers expect it... and we all know customer satisfaction is one of the most important elements of business.

According to emarketer, Apple Pay is the dominant player in the mobile payment service world with 43.9 million users in 2021 and an expected 14.4 million more users by 2025. That means it's more popular than Starbucks in second place, Google Pay in third place, and Samsung Pay in fourth! So it’s worth considering being able to accept contactless payments in your business if you aren't already.

The next step is understanding how to accept Apple Pay at your business. Here's a complete lowdown on that.

Apple Pay for Business

Apple Pay is a digital payment method designed for Apple device users, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. It allows users to link their payment information, such as bank accounts, credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards, to their Apple Pay wallets for convenient and secure transactions.

The app was launched in 2014 and has quickly grown to become an influential digital wallet marketed as an alternative to traditional, plastic card payment methods.

Knowing that processing payments is a lucrative industry to be involved in, it’s no surprise big tech companies have forced their way in, nor that they’ve been successful. Apple Pay, like Google Pay and Samsung Pay, are all great examples of this and in typical fashion, Apple has innovated to influence the industry and change how payments work.

Apple Pay argues that they are a more reliable, safer payment provider because none of the physical risks of theft applies to their mobile wallet. Customers do not use credit cards or debit cards but make payments through iPhones, iPads, Macs or their striking Apple watches.

As well as avoiding the risk of chip cards, Apple Pay security uses tokenization, which replaces account data with different digits to disguise information and prevent it being used by financial criminals. Payment still requires mobile phone security to operate, such as a touch ID or code, so fraud is much less likely to occur which helps both customers and businesses trade with confidence.

How many businesses accept Apple Pay? 

Apple Pay's popularity has led to widespread acceptance among businesses globally. As of 2022, the company held over 90% of the market share in the United States alone, where it accounted for 48% of all digital wallet payments at physical shops.

Why accept Apple Pay payments? 

Okay so by now you should have a good understanding of what Apple Pay is. But why should your business accept Apple Pay? Well, let's take a look at some of the brilliant benefits that accepting Apple Pay transactions can bring to your company.

Contactless payments that speed up transactions 

Speedy transactions. Everyone wants them. In fact, in a Forrester and Visa study, over half of the business owners surveyed said that they enabled fast transactions to help them maintain a competitive edge (51%) and address customer demand (51%).

So where does Apple Pay fit in here? Well, Apple Pay offers contactless payment options that speed up transactions significantly. Customers can simply tap their Apple devices to complete purchases swiftly, making the checkout process smoother and faster and improving the overall shopping experience.

Secure mobile payments for your business

As well as speedy transactions, people also want their payments to be safe and secure. With more and more digital transactions happening around the world, it's never been more important for businesses to guarantee and ensure the security of sensitive financial information. Customers want to know that their payment details are protected from unauthorized access and fraud.

With Apple Pay, they can! It implements robust security measures like encryption, tokenization, and multi-factor authentication with face ID and touch ID to help with this. These measures don't just protect the customer data, but also build trust and confidence in your business or store.

How does my business process Apple Pay payments? 

Now onto the most important part of this article, how to accept Apple Pay at your business. We've got all of the simple steps you need to take to do just that. They include:

Choose a good payment processor for your business 

Believe it or not, not all payment processors work with Apple Pay. We know... it's surprising. So, you're going to need to find a payment processor that does, in order to stay ahead of the curve.

When you're selecting a payment processor for your business, look out for ones that support Apple Pay and other contactless payment methods. You'll also need it to integrate seamlessly with your existing checkout system. Why? because it ensures a smooth and efficient payment process for both you and your customers.

One such solution that ticks all these boxes is Epos Now Payments. Our service is specifically designed to support Apple Pay and other contactless payment methods while seamlessly integrating into your retail POS system or hospitality POS system. 

With Epos Now Payments, you can offer your customers their preferred payment options. They can pay via your terminal, pay remotely via Pay by Link, or use their mobile devices for contactless payments.

Set up your payment reader and integrate it with your point of sale terminal to centralize your processing 

Your next step in processing Apple Pay payments is setting up a payment reader that integrates with your POS system. This step is really important for processing Apple Pay payments smoothly. Why? Because it allows for quick and secure transactions, enhances customer satisfaction, and simplifies the overall payment process for both you and your brilliant customers.

TIP: Having a good and reliable card machine, like those offered by Epos Now, can really enhance your payment processing capabilities. Our range of card machines accept various payment methods, and provide your customers with a convenient payment experience. Plus, they're designed to integrate with your POS terminal.

Let customers hold their device close to the reader to process Apple Pay.

You want to make everything extremely easy for your customers. One way to do this is by letting them hold their Apple device close to the reader when processing Apple Pay. This way, they can complete their transactions quickly and securely and without any unnecessary fuss.

PSTT.. If you run an online business, then this step won't apply. However, check out our Apple Pay blog to learn more about how to accept Apple pay online.

Raise awareness about your business’ flexibility to accept these contactless payments 

Sometimes, your customers might not know about the brilliant new tech and solutions you've introduced to make their lives easier. So tell them and raise awareness about how fabulous and flexible your business is when it comes to payments.

How can you do this? Well, start by telling them about the brilliant benefits that contactless payments, like Apple Pay, can bring to them. Let them know that your brick and mortar store is all about staying ahead of the curve and adapting to modern payment methods to make their shopping experience better.

You can use lots of different channels to spread the word and even creating an apple pay marketing kit may be a good idea here. Maybe you want to put up a sign in your store, or maybe you can share the news on social media, via email newsletters or even just letting them know during checkout. The more informed your customers are, the more likely they're going to be to use these contactless payment options.

Merchant fees when accepting Apple Pay payments 

Now onto what every savvy business wants to know. Is Apple Pay free for merchants? The answer... yes and no.

Apple Pay won't charge your customers anything. They just need their Apple wallet and they're good to start paying via their debit card or credit card which is stored in that Apple Pay account.

Apply Pay also doesn't charge merchants anything, however, you'll still have to pay the usual fees you pay when processing credit card payments. So, your business will get a small fee from your credit card processor or facilitator for every Apple Pay transaction made, just like regular credit card transactions.

Find out more about fees in our ‘How Does Apple Pay Work’ guide. 

At Epos Now, we charge a single fixed rate, no matter the card type. There are no additional charges such as authorization or PCI compliance fees, so you can enjoy the transparent payment processing services, all the time. Check out our merchant services page for more on this!