Android phones can now act as NFC payment terminals via Stripe

Stripe today announced that it would expand support for NFC payments on smartphones to Android, after launching the functionality on iOS last year.

“Tap to Pay” was launched on iOS with the ability for business owners to accept payments from customers via NFC, effectively turning iPhones into terminals for Apple Pay and other NFC services.

Stripe has today introduced Tap to Pay on Android, with support available now in US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore via Squire, Fareharbor, Oddle, and GiveTap. When used, there’s no other hardware needed for businesses to accept NFC payments.

Tap to Pay on Android helps businesses build and customize in-person checkouts without the need for traditional point-of-sale hardware. Squire, a barbershop business management platform, recently adopted Tap to Pay on Android with Stripe to make it easier for barbershops to accept in-person payments.

Stripe says this support is available in beta right now and works on “any NFC-enabled Android phone or tablet.” There’s no mention of any Android version minimum. 9to5Google was first to report that Square was working on the same feature for Android devices, but it seems Stripe was able to beat Square to the punch.

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• Google Chrome preparing to adopt Android’s native sharing menu