PayPal Launching Contactless iPhone Payments in Germany to Compete With Apple Pay - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

PayPal Launching Contactless iPhone Payments in Germany to Compete With Apple Pay

by

PayPal today announced that it is planning to debut contactless payments in Germany, allowing German iPhone users to make tap-to-pay purchases in stores using their PayPal accounts.

paypal tap to pay germany
PayPal is able to offer this feature because Europe's Digital Markets Act has forced Apple to open up the NFC chip in its devices to third-party apps. NFC payments are available in apps without the need for Apple Pay or the Wallet app, allowing third-party payment services and banks to offer their own tap-to-pay solutions on Apple devices.

European users are able to choose a default app that is activated when an iPhone is near an NFC terminal or when the side button on the device is double pressed, so paying in stores with PayPal is as seamless as paying with ‌Apple Pay‌.

PayPal says it will launch its first contactless mobile wallet "in the coming weeks," and Germany will be its first test market. Using the latest version of the PayPal app on an iPhone, PayPal customers will be able make in-store purchases with PayPal wherever contactless Mastercard payments are accepted.

To lure customers to use PayPal over ‌Apple Pay‌, PayPal is offering cashback offers in the PayPal app and will eventually support a pay over time feature with options for six, 12, and 24 monthly installments for purchases.

NFC access is available for banking and wallet apps in the European Economic Area, which includes the 27 European Union countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

Tags: NFC, PayPal

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Read Full Article • 151 comments
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Read Full Article • 106 comments

Top Rated Comments

dontwalkhand Avatar
dontwalkhand
18 months ago
If there is any company I trust the least right now, it would be PayPal.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechWhisperer Avatar
TechWhisperer
18 months ago
Great news! More choice and freedom for consumers in the European Union. In advance, those who downvote me clearly dislike freedom of choice. LOL.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
sw1tcher
18 months ago

If there is any company I trust the least right now, it would be PayPal.
Mark Zuckerberg must be so happy to know that someone trusts him and his companies more than they do PayPal.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
munpip214
18 months ago
I’m guessing once this is all set up, PayPal cards will drop support for Apple Pay. For them, it will be fine, but if Apple tried to do that, it would be “anti-competitive” and they would get sued hundreds of millions of dollars.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
cupcakes2000
18 months ago

If there is any company I trust the least right now, it would be PayPal.
Great. Don’t use their services then. Stick with Apple, or wait for a better option for you. Nothings changed except now there exists a choice. The fact you can now do this is much more the point, rather than be forced to only be able to use Apple.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
klasma
18 months ago

Anyone that uses Apple’s Wallet can use as many different payment options as they like, even from companies that compete against each other. Anyone that uses PayPal’s will be able to pay via PayPal…
I don’t see how PayPal offers less choice than Apple Wallet here. You can register any number of credit cards and bank accounts with PayPal, just as with Apple Wallet. PayPal is “only” an intermediary for those, similar to Apple Pay. PayPal lets you choose which payment method to use on every transaction, like Apple Pay does.

PayPal is pretty big in Europe, Apple Pay less so.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments