Apple will let other digital wallets into Apple Pay, and even be the default

Enlarge / Soon enough, iPhone owners will be able to use “CREDIT CARD” to pay for delicious clams and prawns at the bistro of their choice. (credit: Getty Images)

Do iPhones have NFC? Up until recently, the answer was “Kind of,” or, possibly, “It depends.”

You could use an iPhone’s near-field communication (NFC) hardware for Apple Pay transactions, tapping through a public transit gate, exchanging contacts with another iPhone user, reading basic NFC tags, and a few other things. But every option was brokered by Apple, and the only tap-to-pay option was through Apple Pay.

In a press release today, Apple says that will soon change. Starting with iOS 18.1, apps can, through the Secure Element (SE) on iOS devices, offer things like “in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets, with government IDs to be supported in the future.” In addition, iPhone users will be able to set a default payment app triggered by double-clicking the side button.