Tap to Pay on iPhone for Tradies
Take card, Apple Pay and Google Pay on your phone — no terminal, no extra hardware. The setup that's killing portable EFTPOS for Aussie trade businesses.
Or try it on the web →Tap to Pay on iPhone lets you accept Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Apple Pay payments by tapping a customer's card or phone on the back of your iPhone — no reader, no terminal, no Bluetooth pairing. QuoteMate uses Square's Mobile Payments SDK so the feature also works on NFC-capable Android phones, plus Google Pay. For Australian tradies who still rely on portable EFTPOS terminals, paper invoices, or 'I'll bank-transfer you tonight' (which becomes Saturday, then never), it's the biggest payments shift since contactless launched.
What you need to use Tap to Pay in QuoteMate
Three things: a supported phone (iPhone XS or later on iOS 16.4+, or any NFC-capable Android), a connected Square account against your ABN, and the QuoteMate app. There's no reader to buy and no monthly hardware fee. Square verifies the seller (one-time KYC), the feature lights up inside QuoteMate's payment sheet, and you can take a card or contactless payment within about 30 seconds of finishing a job. Manual key-in is also supported on every device for the rare card that won't tap.
Why tradies are switching from portable EFTPOS
Standalone EFTPOS terminals cost $20–$50 a month in rental, need their own SIM or Wi-Fi, run flat at the worst possible time, and add another piece of gear to the ute. Tap to Pay removes the hardware entirely. Square's published rate for in-person Tap to Pay in Australia is 1.6% per transaction — lower than the rates typically charged for keyed-in or online payments. Funds usually clear into your linked bank account the next business day. For a tradie doing 5 jobs a week at $800 average, that's the difference between getting paid this week and chasing payment for the next fortnight.
What it actually costs through QuoteMate
Two costs apply on every Tap to Pay transaction: Square's processing fee (1.6% in-person in Australia) and QuoteMate's platform fee (1.5% in-person), for a total cost of acceptance of around 3.1%. If you'd rather not eat the fee, you can switch on the surcharge passthrough — QuoteMate adds 2.9% to the customer's total at the payment step (clearly labelled), so you net the full quoted amount. The 2.9% cap keeps the surcharge under ACCC's excessive-surcharge threshold for any realistic card type, so you stay compliant without doing the maths yourself.
How to take a payment in QuoteMate
Open the invoice on your phone, tap 'Take Payment', tap 'Card on this device', and have the customer hold their card or phone against the back of yours. The transaction completes in a couple of seconds, the invoice is automatically marked as paid, the customer receives an emailed receipt, and the GST is logged for your BAS. You don't have to remember to update anything manually — Square's webhook reconciles the payment status in the background.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — Tap to Pay on iPhone launched in Australia in 2023 and is supported by Square, Tyro, CommBank Smart, and others. QuoteMate uses Square's Mobile Payments SDK, which works for any Australian ABN on iPhone XS or later (iOS 16.4+) and NFC-capable Android.
Yes. QuoteMate's Tap to Pay support runs through Square's Mobile Payments SDK on both iOS and Android, so any NFC-capable Android phone can accept contactless payments and Google Pay.
Square's standard Australian rate for in-person Tap to Pay is 1.6%. QuoteMate adds a 1.5% platform fee, for a total cost of acceptance of about 3.1% per transaction. Or enable the surcharge passthrough — QuoteMate adds 2.9% to the customer's total so you net the full quoted amount. There are no monthly hardware or rental fees either way.
Yes. Turn on 'Surcharge payment fees' in QuoteMate's Square settings — a 2.9% surcharge is added to the customer's total at the payment step and clearly disclosed. The cap keeps you under ACCC excessive-surcharge rules for any realistic card type.
Square typically deposits funds into your linked bank account the next business day. Square also offers same-day deposits for an extra fee if you need cash flow faster.