Tap to Pay on iPhone with ServiceM8

Tap to Pay on iPhone is:

• Great for cash flow
  
  You & your team can take payment on site, immediately upon completing the job, which is awesome for your business’s cashflow.
  
  
• Professional
  
  You can offer clients the ability to pay immediately on job completion, with a great payment experience, then immediately send them their paid PDF invoice via email & SMS.
  
  
• Efficient
  
  Processing payment on site means you can send the invoice to the client, and even approve the invoice & payment details to your accounting software, before you drive away, meaning there’s no admin left to do after hours, and no need to follow up clients who haven’t paid their invoice.
  
  
• Easy to work with

All day, every day. With Tap to Pay on iPhone, no extra terminals or hardware is needed — all you need is your iPhone. You don’t need to worry about organising terminals & EFTPOS machines for everyone, taking care of them, keeping track of them, charging them, or having to fetch them from the van. 

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With Tap to Pay on iPhone in the ServiceM8 app, you can accept in-person contactless payments, with only your iPhone — from clients with physical debit and credit cards, to Apple Pay and other digital wallets — no extra terminals or hardware needed. It’s easy, secure, and private.

Accepting contactless payments using Tap to Pay on iPhone is easy, secure, and private:

1. In the ServiceM8 iOS app, check Out of the job, and in the Billing view, finalise the items you want to charge on invoice, then tap ‘Add Payment’.
2. Select ‘Tap to Pay on iPhone’.
3. Present your iPhone to your client, and ask them to hold their physical card, mobile device or wearable over the contactless symbol for a few seconds.
4. Wait for the ‘Done’ checkmark & the transaction is complete!

If the transaction requires entry of the cardholder’s PIN (e.g. the amount is over the cardholder’s threshold for contactless payments), there will be an additional step after the card/device is read, prompting the client to enter their PIN to confirm the payment, using Apple’s secure PIN entry interface. 

Tap to Pay on iPhone supports all common methods of contactless payment people are used to using every day, such as:

• Physical credit and debit cards, which support contactless payment — these can be identified by the EMV® Contactless Indicator on the card itself
• Apple Pay on iPhone or Apple Watch
• Digital wallets on other mobile devices and wearables

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• Australia
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• United States of America  

With Tap to Pay on iPhone, customers’ payment data is protected by the same technology that makes Apple Pay private and secure. Apple doesn’t know what’s being purchased or who is buying it. 

Apple securely connects to Stripe, the payment service provider ServiceM8 supports to securely process the payment between you, the client, and your relevant card issuers and banks. Stripe processes the transaction, then deposits the payment to your nominated bank account. 

You will need a Stripe account to use Tap to Pay on iPhone with ServiceM8. If you do not already have a Stripe account, you can easily create one as part of the Tap to Pay on iPhone activation process (more guidance on setup below). 

The cost of using Tap to Pay on iPhone is on a pay-as-you-go, per-transaction basis:

• Processing fees with the ServiceM8 Pay add-on
• Processing fees with the Stripe Payments add-on

If you're new to taking card payments through ServiceM8, you will need to activate ServiceM8 Pay. Upon first activating ServiceM8 Pay, your first payments undergo a risk assessment process and will take 7-14 days to be deposited to your bank account, after which payments will be deposited to your nominated bank account the next business day.

To use Tap to Pay on iPhone, you will need:

• iPhone XS or later
• The latest iOS available on your iPhone
• The latest ServiceM8 app available on the App Store
• ServiceM8 Pay & a Stripe account (you can set up a Stripe account when you activate ServiceM8 Pay, or connect ServiceM8 Pay to an existing Stripe account) 

Note that Tap to Pay is only available on compatible iPhones (not iPads), as it requires certain NFC (Near-Field Communications) hardware in the device i.e. iPhone XS or later. 

It’s easy to enable Tap to Pay on iPhone. Whether you have an existing Stripe account or not:

1. Download the latest ServiceM8 app from the App Store.
2. Follow the prompts to Enable Tap to Pay on iPhone. Alternatively, open any job card and go to Billing, tap ‘Add Payment’, change the Payment Method, then select ‘Enable Tap to Pay on iPhone’.
3. Confirm your business details.
4. Connect with Stripe — you can connect to an existing account, or create a new account.
5. Confirm the Apple ID you want linked to Tap to Pay on iPhone (if you have different Apple IDs for personal and business accounts, you will have the option to ‘Use a Different Apple ID’).
6. Done! 

Note that only the Account Owner or a staff member with the Business Owner security role can enable Tap to Pay on iPhone for your ServiceM8 account. 

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TIP: for a smooth setup experience, ensure your country is set to a standard format in your Preferences i.e. in your Online Dashboard on your computer, go to Account > Settings > Preferences > Company Information > Office Location > Country, and ensure this is set to one of the following standard names for your country (as applicable): "Australia", "United Kingdom", "United States", "Canada". 

Tap to Pay on iPhone will not appear in the ServiceM8 app on your staff members’ iPhones until a Business Owner enables it on their own iPhone first. 

Once Tap to Pay on iPhone has been enabled for your ServiceM8 account, each staff member will have the ability to enable it on their own iPhone. To do so:

1. Download the latest ServiceM8 app from the App Store.
2. Follow the prompts to Enable Tap to Pay on iPhone. Alternatively, open any job card and go to Billing, tap ‘Add Payment’, change the Payment Method, then select ‘Enable Tap to Pay on iPhone’.
3. Wait until the iPhone and ServiceM8 connect to the business’s Stripe account (as set by the Business Owner who originally enabled Tap to Pay on iPhone for the account).  
4. Done!

Note that this step must be completed for every staff member, on each iPhone. Staff members will need a security role in which they have access to pricing and the ability to take payments in the field, to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. 

Once you’ve enabled Tap to Pay on iPhone on your device, connected to your Stripe account and Apple ID, you’re ready to start taking payments! To do so:

1. In the ServiceM8 iOS app, check Out of a job, and in the Billing view, finalise the items you want to include and charge for on invoice, then tap ‘Add Payment’.
2. Select ‘Tap to Pay on iPhone’.
3. Present your iPhone to your client, and ask them to hold their physical card, mobile device or wearable over the contactless symbol for a few seconds.
4. Wait for the ‘Done’ checkmark & the transaction is complete!

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Tap to Pay on iPhone is a new payment experience, using the same payment processing framework that we’re all used to i.e. it’s the same as using contactless payment when buying your groceries at the supermarket — you’re just using your iPhone to read the contactless card/device, instead of a separate terminal or EFTPOS machine. It’s easy, secure, and private.

While Tap to Pay on iPhone is optional to use, please note that the process of enabling Tap to Pay on iPhone, and connecting ServiceM8 to a Stripe account, activates the Stripe Add-on in your ServiceM8 account.

This means that all unpaid invoices which you email and/or SMS to clients, which include a link to view the invoice online, will include an option for the client to ‘Pay Now’ via debit/credit card. This payment will be processed via Stripe and subject to the transaction fees & processing timeframes.

No, it won’t have a noticeable impact on battery life. 

First, follow the link in your Tap to Pay on iPhone welcome email to sign in to Apple Business Register (or click here). Confirm your business information to see your Tap to Pay on iPhone connection and your Merchant ID.

From the list of Merchant IDs, select Remove and confirm for each merchant account ID to unlink your Apple ID from Tap to Pay on iPhone.

When the Merchant ID list is empty, your Apple ID is no longer linked to Tap to Pay on iPhone.

Note that this will not deactivate the Stripe Add-on in your ServiceM8 account, or the ability to accept card payments through ServiceM8 & Stripe via other means such as manual entry, Scan & Pay, and online invoice payments. You will need to deactivate the Stripe Add-on in your Online Dashboard should you wish to completely deactivate the ability to accept card payments via ServiceM8 & Stripe. 

If you’re using Tap to Pay on iPhone for a payment which requires entry of a PIN, and the client has a visual impairment which prevents them from seeing the PIN screen on your iPhone, on Apple’s secure PIN entry screen, tap ‘Accessibility Options’ to turn on accessibility mode for PIN entry.

When the accessibility mode is on, the device reads out loud instructions for PIN entry:

• Tap once for 1, tap twice for 2, and so on. Tap ten times for 0.
• Pause between taps for each digit. The device plays a sound to confirm entry for each digit.
• Swipe right with two fingers to confirm the PIN.
• Swipe left with two fingers to delete the last PIN digit entered.
• Swipe down with two fingers to cancel the payment.
• Swipe up with two fingers to read out loud the number of PIN digits entered.

Also note that:

• You can use the side buttons on your iPhone to adjust the volume as needed.
• PIN entry times out after 5 minutes. 
• The accessibility mode turns off automatically when the Tap to Pay on iPhone interface times out or is dismissed.
• To turn off accessibility mode, tap Turn Off Accessibility Options.

The performance of contactless cards can vary based on the issuer and card design, such as the card material or the location of the antenna. As a result, some cards connect more easily than others.

Try the following to ensure a successful card read:

• First, ask the customer to hold their contactless payment card directly on the device with the chip on the left side and the longer side of the card lined up with the edge of the tap area for several seconds.
• If the card still doesn't read, ask the customer to slide the card to center the chip directly over the notch on the device.
• If the contactless card remains unread without any feedback from the interface, the card might have a damaged antenna or might not work with contactless payments. Try the alternative card payment options in the ‘Add Payment’ view of ServiceM8 — you can manually enter the card details, or use Scan & Pay to present the client with a unique QR code to pay on their own mobile device using Apple Pay or another digital wallet.

This means that the customer is using a contactless card that Stripe doesn't support. For example, a customer may have a card issued outside your country. 

You can try the alternative card payment options in the ‘Add Payment’ view of ServiceM8 — you can manually enter the card details, or use Scan & Pay to present the client with a unique QR code to pay on their own mobile device using Apple Pay or another digital wallet.

If all of the above methods do not work, then you will need to advise the client to use another payment method e.g. cash or direct bank transfer.

To refund a payment accepted using Tap to Pay on iPhone, you will need to log into your Stripe account dashboard. See Stripe’s help centre for guidance if needed.

Note you may need to remove the recorded payment in ServiceM8 — see this article for guidance on how to remove a payment in ServiceM8

Yes, in addition to credit and debit cards using networks such as Visa and Mastercard, the latest version of the ServiceM8 app supports contactless payment from clients using an Eftpos card (sometimes referred to as a 'keycard') i.e. a domestic card issued by their bank, similar to a 'debit' card in that it's linked directly to one of their bank accounts.