The company behind USD Coin (USDC), is getting ready to add tap-and-go payment support to iPhones. This will completely change the way digital payments work. This change happened after Apple decided to let outside apps use its Near Field Communication (NFC) chip and Secure Element (SE), which were only available to Apple Wallet and Apple Pay before.
Circle’s CEO, Jeremy Allaire, is excited about what this new tool could do. “Swipe to pay with USDC on iPhones is coming soon,” he said, telling wallet makers to get ready for this big change. With this new feature, iPhones will be able to accept USDC payments, making it easier to use digital cash in normal life.
People who are already used to tap-and-go payment ways can expect this integration to make the process much easier, making digital currency purchases as simple as using a credit or debit card. Allaire stressed that the options go beyond USDC and include non-fungible tokens (NFTs), other certificates, and more stablecoins like EURC.
Because Apple chose to make its NFC technology public, digital currencies will be able to be used in more popular payment systems. This change could speed up the use of USDC and other digital assets by making them easier to get and more useful in everyday life. Soon, users will be able to quickly and safely complete deals with just a tap on their iPhone. This will combine the ease of digital payments with the safety of blockchain technology.
Circle’s planned tap-and-go tool for USDC will not only make payments faster, but it will also show that digital currencies are becoming more widely accepted. Adoption of digital currencies is likely to grow a lot as Apple makes this feature available to developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, which are all important global markets.
At the same time that these changes are happening, other players in the digital banking space are also moving. For example, MetaMask is working with MasterCard and Baanx to try a self-custody debit card in the EU and the UK. This card will let users pay for things straight from their cryptocurrency wallets.
As banking moves more and more online, the combination of USDC with Apple’s NFC technology is a major turning point. We think that this change will make transactions easier, safer, and faster, making digital currencies more competitive against traditional payment methods. USDC’s use of tap-and-go technology will greatly affect the future of banking.
