Tap to Pay on iPhone

Tap to Pay on iPhone lets you accept in-person payments on your iPhone — with no extra hardware. A customer holds their contactless credit or debit card, their iPhone or Apple Watch with Apple Pay, or another digital wallet (Google Pay, Samsung Pay) near the top of your iPhone, and the payment is done in a second or two.

It's built into iPhone by Apple. The card details are read by the iPhone's secure hardware and encrypted immediately — neither you, nor Servio, nor the customer's name on your screen ever sees the card number. The money goes to your Stripe balance like any other card payment and deposits to your bank.

• An iPhone XS or newer running iOS 16.7 or later (we recommend keeping iOS up to date).
• The Servio app from the App Store, signed in as the business owner the first time (team members can use it afterwards — see below).
• An Apple Account signed in on the iPhone (Settings → your name at the top). Apple needs it to show you its terms the first time.
• Your bank connected in Servio — see Getting paid.
• An internet connection — Wi-Fi or cellular. Payments are confirmed live.
• A business in the United States, charging in US dollars.

You do this once, on the owner's iPhone.

1. 1Open the Servio app and go to More → Tap to Pay on iPhone. (Tapping Collect on any job does the same thing the first time.)
2. 2Apple's Terms and Conditions appear. This is a standard sheet from Apple, not from Servio. It explains how Tap to Pay on iPhone works and what you agree to as a merchant. Read it and tap Accept. You must be signed in with your Apple Account; if the sheet says you can't accept, you're probably signed in to the Servio app as a team member instead of the owner — the owner needs to accept.
3. 3Your iPhone gets ready. You'll see a progress bar while iOS configures Tap to Pay on iPhone. It usually takes under a minute. Stay online and keep the app open. Servio shows "not ready yet" if you try to take a payment before this finishes.
4. 4A short guide appears showing how customers tap a card, how Apple Pay works, and what happens if a PIN is needed. It's the same content as the next section, from Apple. You can re-read it any time from More → Help → Tap to Pay on iPhone.
5. 5That's it. From now on Servio prepares Tap to Pay on iPhone quietly in the background whenever you open the app, so the payment screen opens instantly.

Team members: once the owner has accepted Apple's terms, anyone you've added to your team can take payments for jobs assigned to them from their own iPhone. They don't need to accept the terms again. If a team member sees a message saying they can't accept terms, the owner just needs to do the setup above first.

Start from the thing being paid for. In the iPhone app:

• Open the job → tap Collect $X · Tap to Pay on iPhone.
• Or open the invoice → tap Collect.
• Or open the customer → the same button shows whatever they owe. If they owe nothing, tap Take a payment and type an amount.
• Or go to More → Tap to Pay on iPhone to pick any job or invoice, or enter a custom amount.

Then:

1. 1Check the amount on screen and tap the Tap to Pay on iPhone button.
2. 2Your iPhone shows Apple's payment screen with the amount. Turn the phone so the customer can see it, or hand it to them. Servio never asks for the card number.
3. 3Contactless card: the customer holds the card flat against the top of your iPhone (the back, near the camera) and keeps it there until the phone beeps and shows a checkmark — about a second.
4. 4Apple Pay (iPhone): the customer double-clicks the side button on their iPhone, confirms with Face ID or Touch ID, then holds the top of their phone near the top of yours.
5. 5Apple Pay (Apple Watch): the customer double-clicks the side button on their watch and holds the watch face near the top of your iPhone.
6. 6Other wallets (Google Pay, Samsung Pay) work the same way as a card: unlock, hold near the top of the phone.
7. 7PIN: some cards ask for a PIN above a certain amount. Apple's screen asks the customer to enter it on your iPhone — hand it over and look away. The PIN screen has an accessibility button that turns on VoiceOver and other options for customers who need them.
8. 8You'll see Processing…, then Approved or Declined. On approval, Servio marks the job or invoice Paid, adds it to your activity, and shows a receipt screen.

On the receipt screen, tap Email receipt, enter the customer's email and send. They get a branded receipt with your business name, the amount, the last four digits of the card and the date. You can also Share a receipt link by text or AirDrop.

A receipt can be sent whether the payment was approved or declined — a declined receipt shows that no charge was made, which customers sometimes want in writing. All receipts are also in Payouts and in your Stripe dashboard.

A decline comes from the customer's bank, not from Servio or Apple. Common reasons: the card is over its limit, it's expired, the bank flagged the purchase, or the tap was too quick. What to do:

• Tap Try again and have the customer hold the card still for a full second.
• Ask for a different card or a digital wallet. Some cards are not able to complete contactless transactions using a PIN. If this occurs, simply ask the customer if they have an alternative contactless card or digital wallet and continue the transaction using Tap to Pay on iPhone.
• Fall back to another way to pay: Show QR (they pay on their own phone), Copy pay link (text it), or Cash — all on the same screen.

If you close the app before the result shows, Servio sends you a notification with the outcome so a declined payment never slips past you. Nothing is charged on a declined or cancelled attempt.

1. 1Open the paid job or invoice in the app (the owner account only).
2. 2Tap Refund, then confirm.
3. 3The full amount goes back to the customer's card — usually within 5–10 business days — and the job or invoice goes back to unpaid. Servio's platform fee is returned too. The refund shows in your activity feed and in Payouts.

Tap to Pay on iPhone payments are regular card payments on your Stripe account: Stripe's in-person card rate plus Servio's platform fee, deducted automatically, with the rest deposited to your bank on your normal schedule (usually two business days). Both fees are shown on each payment in Payouts. There's no monthly charge and no hardware to buy.