GoDaddy Teams With Apple on Contactless Payments

GoDaddy wants to help businesses offer contactless, in-person payments.

The web hosting company announced in a Monday (April 17) press release it is collaborating with Apple to integrate Tap to Pay on iPhone with its app to let businesses accept payments without needing to buy additional hardware.

Merchants need only download the GoDaddy mobile app on a compatible iPhone, log in and choose Tap to Pay on iPhone, and they’ll be ready to accept payments, typically in minutes, according to the release.

“Based on our data, more than half of all in-store purchases are now contactless, making it a favorite way for consumers to make payments in-store,” said Osama Bedier, president of GoDaddy Commerce, in the release. “Many of our U.S. customers already have an iPhone. By adding Tap to Pay on iPhone to the GoDaddy mobile app, we will enable millions of small businesses to accept in-person payments without having to purchase additional hardware. That matters in this climate.”

Many merchants are expanding their digital payment capabilities to meet changes in consumer behavior.

Last year, 89% of Americans used some form of digital payment method, according to a McKinsey report.

Digital wallets are especially popular, particularly when it comes to online shopping. PayPal alone made up almost 14% of consumers’ online shopping spending, according to a PYMNTS report.

According to PYMNTS research, more than three-quarters of merchants said consumers would be at least very likely to switch retailers because stores were not providing enough modern capabilities, such as alternative in-store payment methods.

GoDaddy said in the release the Apple integration lets businesses accept all types of contactless payments while keeping their information and the customer’s data private. Apple doesn’t store card info on devices or its servers, while GoDaddy uses “advanced encryption” to guard users’ data.

Earlier this month, GoDaddy released prompts small business owners can employ with generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

The new Small Business Generative AI Prompt Library features prompts that can transform tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing AI into marketing copywriters, social media experts and growth hackers, GoDaddy said at the time.