Apple Expands NFC Access to Developers

After coming to agreement with European authorities earlier this summer, Apple will grant access to third-party developers when it comes to near field communications (NFC) in regards to mobile-wallet providers.

Since its 2014 launch, Apple Pay, and associated Apple applications have been able to access the secure element. When iOS 18 is released in the coming months, developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, United States and the United Kingdom can use the APIs with additional locations to follow.

“Using the new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs, developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets, with government IDs to be supported in the future,” the Apple announcement stated.

The new solution was designed to provide developers with a secure way to offer NFC contactless transactions from within their iOS apps. Users will have the option to open the app directly, or set the app as their default contactless app in iOS Settings, and double-click the side button on iPhone to initiate a transaction.