Issuer Features
Discover the benefits, enablement steps,
and resources to get started.
Tap to Add Card
Seamless, secure provisioning with a tap
Boost provisioning rates and reduce fraud by giving cardholders an easy and secure way to add their physical, contactless‑enabled cards to use with Apple Pay — simply by tapping their card to the back of their iPhone.1
Business impact
By simplifying how cards are added to Apple Wallet, Tap to Add Card has a positive impact on both provisioning and fraud reduction. Enabling Tap to Add Card leads to an 11% higher provisioning approval rate and an 80% lower fraud rate compared to manual entry methods, according to a Visa case study.2
Cardholder experience
Fraud protection
Apple Pay is built with security and privacy at its core. Every step is designed to protect cardholders and reduce the impact of fraudulent activities for issuers.
- Issuer‑controlled authentication: Tap to Add Card keeps authentication firmly in the issuer’s hands by letting them choose which Apple‑supported verification methods cardholders may use to add a card.
- Proof of card authenticity and presence: The tapping action uses NFC to access dynamic card data, confirming the card is genuine and that the cardholder physically possesses it. This helps prevent fraud from stolen card data or images.
- Secure APIs and device‑based tokenization: Provisioning cards with Tap to Add Card leverages Apple’s APIs, network tokenization, and fraud prevention processes. Apple Pay helps protect card numbers by storing the tokenized Device Primary Account Number (DPAN) inside iPhone’s Secure Element instead of the Funding Primary Account Number (FPAN).
- Cryptographic validation: Each provisioning request is accompanied by a unique, one‑time cryptogram generated by the card network’s applet within the physical card and securely captured by the reader application running in the iPhone’s Secure Element. This cryptogram, along with the card details, is then securely transmitted to the issuer or payment network operator (PNO) for validation. After validation is complete, the issuer can complete authentication and approve the cardholder’s provisioning request.
Learn more about Apple’s Fraud Protection for Issuers.
Tap to Add Card with PIN
Get started.
Enable Tap to Add Card
Tap to Add Card is automatically enabled in most Apple Pay markets.
- Partner with us.
- Adhere to the Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR).*
- Follow PNO implementation guidelines. Refer to Network articles and bulletins below for additional information.
- Enable cryptogram network validation to provide an easy and secure experience with Tap to Add Card. Issuers must verify the collected cryptogram directly or by the on‑behalf‑of (OBO) model offered by the payment network operator. This is required to receive the network’s proof of possession confirmation and, in turn, allow cardholders to skip manual security code entry.
- Opt in for all issuer BINS eligible for Apple Pay.
- Contact your PNO for setup and testing.
- For help contacting your PNO, or if you have other questions about Apple Pay, contact Apple Pay Partner Support.
Explore the resources
Requirements and guidelines
Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR)*
Apple Pay Fraud Guidelines*
Network articles and bulletins
Mastercard bulletin GLB 9281.7, Introducing MDES Tap to Add Card for Device Wallets (September 2, 2024)
Visa Business News (VBN), Visa bulletin AI13754
*Available after Apple Pay partner onboarding
Frequently asked questions
Tap to Add Card allows a cardholder to provision a card into Apple Wallet by simply tapping their card to the back of their iPhone.
Tap to Add Card is available in most countries and regions that support Apple Pay, excluding Canada, greater China, Germany, Japan, and Vietnam.
Tap to Add Card requires the following operating system on iPhone, depending on the payment network:
- American Express, Mastercard, and Visa cards: iOS 18 or later
- Discover cards: iOS 18.4 or later
- JCB cards: iOS 27 or later
Tap to Add Card with PIN is available in the countries and regions offering Tap to Add Card on the Mastercard payment network and requires iOS 26 or watchOS 26 or later.
Yes. Refer to the Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR) for details.
This feature can be enabled as part of a new or existing Apple Pay implementation. As with other Apple Pay features, Apple does not charge implementation fees for its enablement.
Yes, Tap to Add Card is a secure way for a cardholder to add a card to Apple Wallet. Tap to Add Card helps to ensure the cardholder is in possession of their card at the moment of provision, adding an extra layer of security against fraud.
If the payment network operator or card issuer doesn’t verify the cryptogram, the device may prompt the cardholder to enter their card’s security code as an extra security step.
Yes. Issuers can choose from various verification methods (such as in‑app verification, email, and SMS) to validate card ownership by the cardholders. This validation happens before issuers approve a card provisioning request. Learn more about Card Verification Methods here.
Yes. Issuers can enhance the provisioning experience by enabling Multi-Device Provisioning, which allows cardholders to easily add their cards to all applicable devices logged in with the same Apple Account.
If a cardholder tries to add a contactless card that has some chip damage, they may receive an error message prompting them to either scan the card using their iPhone’s camera or manually enter the card details.
If a cardholder tries to add a non‑contactless card, then no error message will be shown, as the iPhone will not be able to recognize that the cardholder is trying to provision a card.
Only Mastercard issuers explicitly supporting Tap to Add Card with PIN (with iOS 26 or later) will prompt cardholders for PIN validation. Cards from other networks — and Mastercard issuers not explicitly supporting PIN — will not prompt for PIN.
Yes. Tap to Add Card with PIN satisfies the SCA through two authentication factors:
- Card presence validation
- Cardholder PIN validation
Mastercard issuers retain full control over the provisioning decision. Issuers configure one of the following options for cardholders who opt to bypass the PIN:
- Approve the request based solely on the cryptogram,
- Require additional identity verification, or
- Decline the request.
Yes. Apple Pay activates the flow only for BINs flagged as “Tap to Add Card with PIN‑enabled” by the issuer in Mastercard systems. Mastercard issuers can enable the PIN requirement by region, product tier, or pilot cohort and expand coverage at any time using a card metadata update, working with Mastercard.
The cardholder receives an error message indicating incorrect PIN entry and can opt to reenter the PIN without tapping again, up to the threshold for consecutive incorrect PIN entries (set by the issuer). Once the threshold has been reached, the cardholder will get a message indicating the PIN is now blocked. To unblock the PIN the cardholder will need to work with their issuer.
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1. Tap to Add Card: Not available in all markets. Integration of this feature by issuers is required. Software and card eligibility requirements apply for cardholders to provision via this feature.
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2. Visa, “Tap to Add Card 2026 Case Study.”
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In the US, Apple Pay is a service provided by Apple Payments Services LLC, a subsidiary of Apple Inc. Neither Apple Inc. nor Apple Payments Services LLC is a bank. Any card used in Apple Pay is offered by the card issuer.
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Apple Pay is not available in all markets. View Apple Pay countries and regions.
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Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages and may require specific hardware and software.