British fintech company Curve has launched contactless payments for iPhone users in the European Union, becoming the second third-party payment service after PayPal to take advantage of Apple's newly opened NFC interface (via iphone-ticker.de).
The Curve Pay app allows users to make tap-to-pay purchases without using Apple Pay or the Wallet app, following PayPal's debut of similar functionality in Germany earlier this month. The feature was made possible by Europe's Digital Markets Act, which forced Apple to open its NFC chip to third-party developers.
Unlike traditional wallet apps, Curve Pay operates as an independent payment authority rather than simply passing through stored card data. Users can reassign purchases to different cards after completing transactions and link various payment sources including PayPal accounts.
The app also provides real-time spending analytics and automated cashback programs. Its "staged wallet" architecture also gives users more control over the payment process compared to conventional digital wallets.
Curve claims more than six million users across its platform, which was previously available only on Android devices. The company joins PayPal in offering European iPhone users alternatives to Apple Pay, with German cooperative banks also planning to introduce their own NFC payment solution through their banking app this September.
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.
