Tap and pay allows you to make a purchase using your NFC enabled phone in a simple, secure and convenient way. When the payment terminal is tapped against the back of your device at a retail location where Mastercard contactless is accepted, your device will wake up and prompt you for a PIN code to complete the transaction.
You need to update your mobile operating system (Android OS 4.4 or later, iOS 8 or later) on your device to be able to use tap and pay functionality on that device.
The terms – Tap & Pay and NFC – cover the same technology (NFC). Tap and pay is a payment service and NFC is a technology that enables contactless communication between two devices – one of them being your device – over an air interface.
The terms “tap and go”, “contactless” or “touch and go” also mean the same thing as tap and pay.
Contactless payment terminals are enabled for accepting NFC-based transactions, so your device must have a secure NFC chip in order to support tap and pay. Please refer to the list of NFC-enabled Android phones and Apple iPhones which support Mastercard’s tap and pay service here . If your phone is not one of the devices listed, you can check with your manufacturer if it supports NFC.
Tap and pay technology represents an enhancement to traditional payments, allowing simplicity for both merchants and customers in terms of easy to integrate point-of-sale terminals or online shopping platforms, with fast, secure and easy checkout.
It is also the perfect solution for the “transition” period between traditional cards and virtual wallets in markets where contactless cards are not yet prevalent.
Yes, you can use your NFC enabled phone to make a purchase at locations accepting Mastercard contactless.
The transaction process consists of several phases, which are handled by your device and the terminal:
*Your device may use other means for you to activate tap and pay functionality (e.g., dedicated button, NFC tag). Please refer to the user guide available at your app store for more information.
To use tap and pay, you need to make sure you have installed the latest version of your mobile operating system (e.g., Android OS4.4 or iOS 8) on your device and enabled NFC in settings. You will also find our Mastercard tap and pay app pre-installed if your device is certified by Google Play or Apple Store. If your device and operating system is not listed, please check with your operating system provider for availability of the Mastercard app in the future.
If your phone does not have a secure NFC chip installed, we recommend that you upgrade to one of our NFC-enabled Android phones or iPhones which support Mastercard’s tap and pay service.
If you do not wish to upgrade your device or NFC is not available for your phone, there are other ways in which you can use tap and pay: