Tap on Phone turns an NFC-enabled smartphone or tablet into a certified payment terminal. This allows merchants to take in-person payments directly on their device. There’s no need for additional hardware to accept payments. It is primarily used by small and micro-merchants, as well as mobile or pop-up businesses, to lower acceptance costs and expand where payments can happen.

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Benefits/functionality

- Converts a standard smartphone or tablet into a secure, certified payment terminal.
- Reduces hardware and maintenance costs for merchants and acquirers.
- Simplifies merchant onboarding and deployment.
- Offers customers a familiar, fast “tap to pay” experience.
- Supports flexible use cases such as deliveries, in-store queue-busting, and field services.

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Implementation/flow summary

The merchant installs a network- or acquirer-certified payment application or SDK on an NFC-enabled mobile device. When a customer taps their contactless card or mobile wallet to the device, the app reads rhe EMV chip data, encrypts it, and processes de transaction through the acquirer and network like a standard card-present contactless payment. To meet PCI standards, the app and device must undergo specific security certification (PCI CPoC + SPoC or MPoC).

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How the major networks implement it‍

American Express offers Amex Tap On Mobile, an Android-based payment acceptance solution that lets merchants securely and conveniently accept contactless payments.

Discover offers Tap on Mobile, enabling merchants to accept Discover, Diners Club, and alliance partner cards via certified mobile apps.

JCB offers Tap on Mobile for JCB contactless payments on Android smartphones

Mastercard offers Tap on Phone, with a defined certification program and SDKs for acquirers and fintech providers.

Visa offers Tap to Pay on phone implementations through partners and Android OEMs.

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Tap on Phone represents a major step toward offering in-person payment acceptance by removing the need for dedicated hardware. However, differences in naming, certification, and rollout between networks can make implementation complex. Explicit Selection can help payment networks analyze these differences, identify capability gaps, and align their product strategies for consistent merchant enablement.