Apple has confirmed that developers will soon be able to offer NFC contactless transactions through third-party applications with the iOS 18.1 update. Apple confirms that access to NFC is currently limited to only developers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, apart from the EU. The company adds that more developers worldwide will soon be eligible.
In addition to in-store payments, the NFC functionality can be used for car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets. Apple plans to support government IDs soon via NFC.
