Tap to Pay setup and use
Device requirements, first-time setup, and the day-to-day Tap to Pay flow.
Rowie uses Stripe's Tap to Pay on iPhone and Tap to Pay on Android. Customers tap their card (or phone wallet) directly on the back of your device. No extra reader hardware required.
Device requirements
- iPhone: XS or newer (A12 Bionic+), iOS 16.4 or newer, a passcode set on the device. Tap to Pay on iPhone is available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, and several EU countries. Check Stripe's documentation for the current country list.
- Android: NFC-capable, Android 8.0 or newer, device passcode set.
- Connection: any internet (wifi or cellular). Payments authorise online.
First-time setup
Before you take a Tap to Pay sale you need Stripe set up. See Sign up and connect Stripe. Until that's done, the Banking row on the Account tab (under the BUSINESS section) shows a "Setup required" badge. The DEVICE section right below shows the Tap to Pay row flagged "Complete banking setup first" with a "You must complete banking setup before you can enable Tap to Pay" message until Stripe is set up. New owners also see a full-screen Set Up Payments prompt on login (buttons: "Set Up Payments" opens Stripe onboarding in the vendor portal, "I'll do this later" dismisses for the session).
Once Banking is connected, the first time you start a Tap to Pay sale the app walks you through:
- An education screen explaining what's supported and how it works.
- Apple or Google's device approval check. On iPhone, Apple takes 1 to 2 days to approve a new Stripe account for Tap to Pay. Until then the button is disabled. You can still take cash sales in the meantime.
- Reader initialization. The contactless reader warms up on your device. This takes a moment the first time only.
You can also open Tap to Pay from the Account tab (in the DEVICE section) to check status or run the education flow again.
Day-to-day flow
Once initialised, the flow is fast:
- Build the cart and tap Go to Cart (or Send to table in Table Service mode).
- Pick a tip option (or No Tip).
- Keep the first payment-method tile selected (labeled Tap to Pay on iPhone, Card on Android/web). The bottom button is labeled Tap to Pay on iPhone (iOS) or Tap to Pay (Android/web). Tap it.
- Hold the customer's card or phone against the back of your iPhone (or top of an Android NFC device).
- Check and haptic when read. Spinner while Stripe authorises. Success or failure screen.
Receipts
The success screen offers to email a receipt. If the menu has prompt for email turned on, the email field is shown at checkout. You can also resend a receipt later from History by opening the transaction.
Why a payment might fail
- Declined: the card issuer rejected the charge. Try a different card.
- Reader not ready: the phone went to sleep or lost NFC. Lock and unlock the phone, then retry.
- Tap to Pay blocked: Stripe and Apple cap how many Stripe accounts a single device can use for Tap to Pay (anti-fraud). If you hit that limit, use a different device or contact Stripe support.
- Account under review: rare. Stripe flagged the account for manual review. Banking shows the message. Payouts pause until cleared.
See Common issues for more.