Apple developers will soon be able to offer contactless transactions using the iPhone's NFC chip, meaning iPhone owners could have more flexibility outside of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.

Beyond in-store payments, this could let people access car keys, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, rewards cards, or event tickets within the apps that issue them. Government IDs will be supported in the future, Apple says.

Users will also be able to set any eligible app as a default contactless app and use the automatic detection and double-click features. It'll work on the iPhone XS and up running iOS 18.1+.

(Credit: Apple)

"As users’ security and privacy is of the utmost importance to Apple, this new solution was designed to provide developers with a secure way to offer NFC contactless transactions from within their iOS apps," Apple said in a statement.

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Developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US will be the first to get access to the new NFC and SE APIs in an upcoming developer seed for iOS 18.1

"Developers will need to enter into a commercial agreement with Apple, request the NFC and SE entitlement, and pay the associated fees," Apple says. "This ensures that only authorized developers who meet certain industry and regulatory requirements, and commit to Apple’s ongoing security and privacy standards, can access the relevant APIs."

Both the European Union and the US Department of Justice have accused Apple of antitrust violations with its current digital wallet setup. In January, Apple pledged to open up the iPhone's NFC chip to third parties in the EU to comply with the Digital Markets Act.