The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced that Tap to Pay on iPhone will soon be available in Saudi Arabia. The announcement was made during the Money20/20 Middle East conference in Riyadh, held from 14 to 16 September 2026, and published by SAMA on 17 September. Once launched, the service is intended to let merchants use compatible iPhones directly to accept payments. A customer would hold a mada card, another contactless-enabled card or a digital wallet near the merchant’s phone. SAMA did not state an exact launch day, supported iPhone models or which payment providers would offer the service.

The technical mechanism described by SAMA is Near Field Communication (NFC), which enables contactless transactions over a short distance. In this model, a compatible phone can perform the acceptance role of a physical card terminal. That description does not mean every phone or payment instrument will be supported: the bank referred specifically to compatible iPhones and to mada, other contactless cards and digital wallets. The announcement does not provide details on security controls, transaction limits, fees, device compatibility lists or the technology providers involved in the payment flow. The eventual scale of any change in merchant acceptance infrastructure therefore remains unknown.

SAMA places the service within a broader digital-payments programme, alongside the national payment system and Software Point of Sale (SoftPOS), introduced in 2021. SoftPOS can allow compatible smart devices to accept payments and can provide an alternative to conventional terminal hardware. The new announcement does not say that the iPhone service will replace existing SoftPOS options or that it will be available to every merchant on identical terms. Market effects will depend on banks, payment companies, device compatibility and merchant adoption. These are potential business implications, not evidence of usage or transaction volumes already achieved.

For merchants, phone-based acceptance could reduce the need for an additional terminal at a point of sale. That may offer more flexibility to smaller businesses or temporary sales locations, but it is not enough to conclude that total costs will fall: provider charges, device requirements and transaction terms have not been disclosed. SAMA also gave no forecast for transaction volumes, user numbers or economic impact. This report therefore covers a planned payment-acceptance option and the card and wallet types identified by the regulator. Because the release gives no launch date, the word “soon” should not be converted into a specific timetable; actual availability will need separate confirmation.