Tap to pay is a form of contactless payment where you accept card payments from your mobile phone. That’s ideal for small business owners, contractors, and freelancers who want the freedom to accept cards – without having to carry around a card terminal.
Plus, if you’re accepting tap to pay from your Apple or Android phone, you’re not paying an extra subscription fee or charge for the card reader. This service is also known as Tap on Phone, Tap to Phone, Tap to Pay, or Soft POS and Mobile POS.
In 2025, approximately 24.1% of the UK population used mobile proximity payments like tap to pay.
If you’re looking for a merchant provider, it’s important that your provider is able to offer a contactless payment solution where you can accept payments via your phone.
If you’re setting up merchant services, the following includes the best tap to pay solutions for Apple iPhone and Android in the UK.
Apple Tap to Pay for iPhone
Apple allows any payment app to accept contactless payments with Apple Tap to Pay.
That means you can take payments from contactless credit and debit, Apple Pay, Apple Watch, and other smartphones equipped with a digital wallet.
| Merchant Account | Setup Costs | Monthly Fees | Transaction Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | £0 | £0 | 1.5% + 25p – 3.35% + 25p |
| Ayden | £0 | £0 | 0.6%-4% + 20p |
| Revolut | £0 | £0-£45 | 0.8% + 2p –2.6% + 2p |
| Tide | £0 | £0 | 1.65% |
| Sum-up | £0 | £0-£19 | 0.99%-1.69% |
| Zettle by PayPal | £0 | £0 | 1.75% |
| Monzo | £0 | £0-£25 | 1.4% + 20p-2.9% + 20p |
| Dojo | £80 | £0-£150+ | 1.2% |
| Tyl by NatWest | £0 | £14.95+ | 1.39%-1.99% + 5p |
| myPOS | £0 | £0 | 1.1% + 7p+ |
| Worldline Tap on Mobile | £0 | £0-£6.99 | 1.1%-1.69% |
| Viva Terminal | £0 | £0-£19.99 | 1.69%+ |
| Mollie | £0 | £20 | 1.8%+ |
| Square | £0 | £0-£29+ | 1.75% |
| Clover | £50–£100 | £0-£50 | 1.5%-2.5%+3-10p |
Android Tap-to-Pay
Most merchant accounts with contactless payments for mobile readers allow both Android and iPhone payments. However, not all do. The following includes the top Android tap to pay providers in the UK.
| Merchant Account | Setup Costs | Monthly Fees | Transaction Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | £0 | £0 | 1.5% + 25p – 3.35% + 25p |
| Ayden | £0 | £0 | 0.6%-4% + 20p |
| Simply Pay Me | £0 | £0-£9.99 | 1.40%+ |
| Tide | £0 | £0 | 1.65% |
| Sum-up | £0 | £0-£19 | 0.99%-1.69% |
| Zettle by PayPal | £0 | £0 | 1.75% |
| Monzo | £0 | £0-£25 | 1.4% + 20p - 2.9% + 20p |
| Dojo | £80 | £0-£150+ | 1.2% |
| Tyl by NatWest | £0 | £14.95+ | 1.39%-1.99% + 5p |
| MyPOS Glass | £0 | £0 | 1.1% + 7p+ |
| Worldline Tap on Mobile | £0 | £0- £6.99 | 1.1%-1.69% |
| Viva Terminal | £0 | £0- £19.99 | 1.69%+ |
| Mollie | £0 | £20 | 1.8%+ |
| Square | £0 | £0-£29+ | 1.75% |
| Clover | £50–£100 | £0-£50 | 1.5%-2.5% + 3-10p |
What are the best Tap to Pay providers in the UK?
In most cases, you can offer tap to pay with any merchant account service that also has an app. This means that you’ll often have dozens of choices of Tap to Pay service providers for both iPhone and Android.
In addition, while most providers offered either Android tap to pay or iOS tap to pay a few years ago, today, most offer both. That means you can use the same payment provider across all your devices – so long as your phone has an NFC chip.
Our top 5 recommendations for tap to pay payment providers in the UK are:
1. Stripe
Stripe is one of the world’s most popular payment processors. That’s because it handles everything businesses need to process payments across nearly any payment medium.
That includes a payment gateway with support for iOS and Android tap to pay. To use it, you’ll have to set up a Stripe account, go through verification, and download the app to your phone. That’s it.
2. Square
The Square POS app allows you to use your mobile phone as a contactless payment reader. This works for both Android and iOS.
You’ll also need a Square subscription, which starts at free and goes up to £29 per month for small businesses. Enterprises can opt for a custom plan.
Square is one of the most popular card-present payment processors in the UK for small businesses. Therefore, it’s a great choice for your Android or iOS tap to pay solution.
3. Dojo
The Dojo for Business app transforms your Apple or Android phone into a tap to pay reader. Here, you can accept all contactless payments directly from your mobile phone. Like with other options, you’ll need an account and verification to get started.
Dojo also sometimes has a setup cost, though that depends on which other services you choose. Otherwise, you’ll pay from £0 to £150 per month depending on the membership you choose.
4. Tide
Tide is quickly becoming one of the most popular small business banks in the UK. In addition, its small business tap to pay solutions are one of the best on the market.
Here, you get industry-leading rates with no fees, making it a great choice. However, you also have to bank with Tide, which might not be something you want.
On the other hand, Tide offers current accounts, savings, and even invoicing, so it can cover all your small business banking needs.
5. SumUp
SumUp is one of the oldest small business-focused card reader suppliers in the country. It also offers mobile card readers, with an app for Android and iOS. You’ll also get low transaction rates.
In addition, if your sales volumes are low enough, you’ll be able to use the free account. Otherwise, accounts go up to £19 per month depending on your needs.
FAQ
If you still have questions about choosing a tap to pay provider in the UK, this FAQ should help.
What is Tap to Pay?
Tap to Pay uses the NFC (Near-field communication) capabilities of your smartphone to communicate with the chips in credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallet devices. In most cases, this means your device connects with the other device when it reaches near-field communication range (typically 0-5 cm).
Then, your app generates an RSA or AES key which encrypts data for the transaction. After that, your phone exchanges data, processing the payment request. From there, your bank handles it as it would any other contactless payment.
It’s also more limited than card insertion payment methods. For example, Apple limits tap to pay payments to £10,000 per transaction with card-present transactions. Android has the same.
However, individual payment processors will normally set much lower limits. For instance, you might have to change settings to accept payments of more than £100. Most customers will as well.
What iPhone model do you need for Tap to Pay?
Tap to Pay apps are usually available for iOS 15.5 or later. That also means you’ll need an iPhone manufactured in 2018 or later.
However, that is subject to change, as Apple updates security standards and removes old devices. Therefore, the newer your Apple phone, the more suited it is for tap to pay.
You’ll need an iPhone with:
- Functioning NFC antenna and chipset
- Not jailbroken/Device bootloader is locked and unchanged
- Runs iOS 15.5 or higher
- Uses Apple Mobile Device Services with the App Store installed
- Has a hardware-backed keystore
- Supports generating RSA and AES keys from the Android keystore
- Has an internet (WiFi or GSM) connection
- Runs an unmodified version of iOS
This means you cannot use any Wi-Fi-only Apple devices. This includes most iPads.
What Android phones are compatible with Tap to Pay?
Android phones need to run Android 11 or above to work with Tap to Pay. However, Android may update this as they stop updating older versions of Android. This means that the newer your Android version, the more suitable it is. In addition, you’ll need an NFC chip reader in your phone.
Most mobile apps require that your Android device have the following:
- Functioning NFC antenna and chipset
- Not rooted/ Device bootloader is locked and unchanged
- Runs Android 11 or higher
- Uses Google Mobile Services with the Google Play Store installed
- Has a hardware-backed keystore
- Supports generating RSA and AES keys from the Android Keystore
- Has an internet (Wi-Fi or GSM) connection
- Runs an unmodified version of Android
This also means you cannot use Android device emulators to run tap to pay. It also means you can’t use a Wi-Fi-only device, because you need Google Mobile Services.
Which cards and payment methods can I accept via Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android?
In most cases, you can accept any contactless payment with Tap to Pay. This means credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, and similar.
In some, your payment provider will also allow you to generate and use your own card and digital cards with store credit or employee discounts. That includes Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, Amex, and many others.
Is Tap to Pay Secure?
Tap to Pay is secure providing it has been implemented securely. That normally means your provider has to securely code the app and then pass PCI DSS certification.
In addition, your app should encrypt the transaction during the process. Payment data is never stored on your phone.
However, if you’re accepting transactions over an open network such as public Wi-Fi, it may be compromised. Make sure you use GSM (4G/5G) or a private Wi-Fi network whenever processing payments.
In Summary
There are a lot of choices for tap to pay providers, whether you want iPhone or Android. If you need help picking, use the form below to share your needs, sales volume, and phone, and we’ll request quotes on your behalf. Then, we’ll get back to you with the best ones, so you can quickly choose a tap to pay provider and save time and money.