{"id":"saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","canonicalSlug":"saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","url":"https://wellficent.com/en/news/saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","language":"en","title":"SAMA says Tap to Pay on iPhone will launch in Saudi Arabia","summary":"The planned service would let merchants accept contactless cards and digital wallets on compatible phones.","body":["The Saudi Central Bank announced on September 17 that Tap to Pay on iPhone would soon become available in Saudi Arabia. SAMA made the announcement during Money20/20 Middle East, held in Riyadh from September 14 to 16. The planned service allows merchants to accept payments directly on compatible iPhones using near-field communication technology.","According to SAMA, customers will be able to tap mada cards, other contactless-enabled cards and digital wallets near a merchant’s iPhone. The announcement does not give a launch date or identify a specific rollout schedule. SAMA said the service would add to the country’s digital-payment infrastructure, including its national payment system and the SoftPOS service introduced in 2021, while meeting local technical requirements."],"keyPoints":[],"sections":[],"text":"SAMA says Tap to Pay on iPhone will launch in Saudi Arabia\n\nThe planned service would let merchants accept contactless cards and digital wallets on compatible phones.\n\nThe Saudi Central Bank announced on September 17 that Tap to Pay on iPhone would soon become available in Saudi Arabia. SAMA made the announcement during Money20/20 Middle East, held in Riyadh from September 14 to 16. The planned service allows merchants to accept payments directly on compatible iPhones using near-field communication technology.\n\nAccording to SAMA, customers will be able to tap mada cards, other contactless-enabled cards and digital wallets near a merchant’s iPhone. The announcement does not give a launch date or identify a specific rollout schedule. SAMA said the service would add to the country’s digital-payment infrastructure, including its national payment system and the SoftPOS service introduced in 2021, while meeting local technical requirements.","category":"finance","region":"world","topics":["digital-payments","fintech"],"eventDate":"2026-09-17","eventDateBasis":"source-event-or-period","publishedAt":"2026-10-05T18:31:00Z","modifiedAt":"2026-10-05T18:31:00Z","publicationBasis":"first-publication","preparedAt":null,"sourcePublishedAt":"2026-09-17","translatedAt":null,"sources":[{"name":"Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)","url":"https://sama.gov.sa/en-US/MediaCenter/News/Pages/news-1170.aspx","checkedAt":"2026-10-05","publishedAt":"2026-09-17"}],"translations":{"en":"https://wellficent.com/en/news/saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","tr":"https://wellficent.com/tr/news/saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","ar":"https://wellficent.com/ar/news/saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","fr":"https://wellficent.com/fr/news/saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","es":"https://wellficent.com/es/news/saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","ru":"https://wellficent.com/ru/news/saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026","pt":"https://wellficent.com/pt/news/saudi-tap-to-pay-iphone-announcement-2026"},"corrections":[],"locations":[]}