Explained to kids!
Xpay is the nickname for paying with a phone or a watch instead of a card, like Apple Pay or Google Pay. The phone pretends to be a card, but it keeps the real card number hidden. You only need to tap.
Let’s see it in real life…
Jordy and his big sister Inaya take the bus to the swimming pool.
Inaya does not take out a card. She holds her phone near the reader. Beep!
“Where is your card?” asks Jordy.
“Inside the phone, in disguise,” she says. “The phone uses a secret code, not my real card number.”
“And if someone takes your phone?”
“They can’t pay. The phone needs my face or my finger first.”
After swimming, their grandpa pays for the fries by tapping his watch.
At the bakery, Inaya taps with her bank’s own app, not the one that came with her phone.
Many apps can do it now, as long as the phone lets them.
That is Xpay.
Tiny recap
- It means… paying by tapping a phone or a watch that pretends to be a card.
- It helps when… you want to pay fast without showing your real card number.
- Watch out for… a phone with an empty battery cannot pay.
…detailed for specialists
Xpay is the industry nickname for mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, which turn a phone or a watch into a payment card. They store a device-specific token instead of the card number, use NFC to pay in stores and confirm each payment with a fingerprint, a face scan or a passcode.
In 2026, Xpay is no longer a niche: wallets are the main way to pay online and a growing share in stores. In Europe, the iPhone’s NFC chip is now open to wallets other than Apple Pay, which changes who controls the tap.
What is Xpay?
“Xpay” is not a brand. It groups the wallets built by device and platform makers: Apple Pay, Google Pay (in Google Wallet), Samsung Pay (in Samsung Wallet) and others. They share one principle, card emulation: the phone behaves like a contactless card at the terminal and like a stored card online.
Under the hood, most Xpay payments are still card payments. The user adds a Visa, Mastercard or local debit card, and the payment travels on card rails, with the same interchange, scheme fees and dispute rights.
How Xpay works
- Provisioning. The user adds a card. With the issuer’s approval, the card network’s token service (Visa Token Service or Mastercard MDES) creates a token, often called a device PAN. The real card number is not stored on the phone.
- Storage. Apple Pay keeps credentials in a dedicated secure element. Android wallets mostly use host card emulation (HCE), where credentials are protected in software and refreshed from the cloud.
- Authentication. The user approves each payment with Face ID, a fingerprint or the device passcode. In Europe, this step can count as Strong Customer Authentication.
- Payment. In store, the phone sends the token and a one-time cryptogram to the terminal over NFC, following EMV contactless rules. Online and in apps, the wallet passes the token and cryptogram to the merchant’s PSP.
- Lifecycle. When the plastic card expires or is replaced, the issuer updates the token and the wallet keeps working. If the phone is lost, the token can be suspended without blocking the card.
Xpay in numbers (2026)
- Global share: digital wallets accounted for 56% of global e-commerce value and 33% of point-of-sale value in 2025, according to Worldpay, over $13.8 trillion in combined spending.
- US growth: wallets rose from 15% to 39% of US online spending between 2014 and 2024, and from 2% to 16% at the point of sale.
- Tap is the default: tap to pay made up 79% of Visa face-to-face transactions globally and 66% in the US in fiscal 2025.
- Tokens: Visa had provisioned more than 16 billion tokens by September 30, 2025.
- Cards inside: 65% of Americans fund their digital wallets with credit or debit cards.
The main Xpay wallets in 2026
Apple Pay
Built into iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac. It relies on the secure element and works in stores, in apps and on the web. Outside the EEA, it remains the default way to tap with an iPhone.
Google Pay and Google Wallet
The default wallet on most Android phones, based on host card emulation. Google Pay also works as an online checkout button across browsers and devices, including desktop.
Samsung Pay
Samsung’s wallet on Galaxy phones and watches, living inside Samsung Wallet next to tickets, keys and loyalty cards.
Bank and independent wallets
Banks, card schemes and fintechs now build their own tap-to-pay apps, especially in Europe, where they can reach iPhone users too. Their pitch: keep the customer relationship inside the bank’s app.
The iPhone NFC opening: what changed in Europe
For a decade, Apple Pay was the only way to tap and pay with an iPhone. In July 2024, the European Commission made Apple’s commitments legally binding: for ten years, wallet providers established in the European Economic Area get free access to the iPhone’s NFC chip in host card emulation mode, users can set another app as their default payment app, and the double-click shortcut can launch it.
Apple’s developer rules require iOS 17.4 or later, an iPhone XS or later and a dedicated entitlement, and payment apps need the regulatory permissions to offer mobile payments in the EEA. Outside Europe, Apple offers a separate NFC and Secure Element program with commercial terms and fees, first opened in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and the US with iOS 18.1 and now available in close to 50 countries and regions.
Who is using the open NFC
- Vipps MobilePay launched the first tap-to-pay alternative to Apple Pay on iPhone, in Norway, in December 2024.
- Curve Pay launched on iPhone for European users in May 2025.
- German cooperative banks began offering a digital girocard for iPhone in the VR-Banking app, independent of Apple Pay, in December 2025, starting with six banks.
- Wero, the European wallet backed by EPI, serves 60 million users and took its first in-store steps in Belgium in September 2026, with wider rollout in France and Germany planned from 2027. Wero has announced NFC payments on iPhone and Android, first funded by cards, then by instant transfers from the second half of 2027.
Xpay: what changes for PSPs, PayFacs and platforms
Acceptance
In store, any EMV contactless terminal accepts Xpay with no extra work. Online, Apple Pay and Google Pay need a specific integration and merchant or domain registration, usually handled by the PSP. With new European wallets arriving, acceptance becomes a list to maintain, not a one-off project. For merchants that sell both in store and online, it is one more reason to run both channels on a single payment setup, the idea behind unified commerce.
Authorization and conversion
Wallet transactions carry network tokens and cryptograms, which issuers trust, plus built-in biometrics. On mobile checkouts, that usually means fewer form fields, fewer authentication steps and fewer abandoned carts, which matters for impulse channels such as live shopping.
Tokens and recurring payments
A wallet token is linked to a device. For subscriptions and stored cards, platforms also need tokens that work for merchant-initiated payments. Payment platforms must manage both kinds and keep them updated. The same logic extends to cars, watches and other connected objects that pay on their own: the Internet of Payment.
Routing and costs
Card-based Xpay payments carry card costs. Bank wallets such as Wero plan to move to account-to-account instant payments, with a different cost and settlement profile. A payment orchestration layer can offer both through one integration and route by cost or performance.
Disputes and reconciliation
Card-based wallet payments keep card dispute rights, so chargeback processes stay the same. Merchant data shows the token, not the card number, so refund, reconciliation and customer service tools must handle tokens correctly.
Is Xpay worth it in 2026?
Yes. Wallets already carry more than half of global e-commerce value, and tap is the default way to pay in store. For payment providers, the question is no longer whether to accept Apple Pay and Google Pay, but how fast they can add the new wallets that Europe’s NFC opening makes possible. NORBr provides the white-label payment infrastructure to route, onboard, pay out and analyze, under your own brand.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Xpay mean in payments?
Xpay is an industry nickname for mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. They let a phone or watch act as a payment card, using a token instead of the card number and NFC for contactless payments.
Is Apple Pay safer than a physical card?
Apple Pay and similar wallets do not share the real card number with the merchant. Each payment uses a device token and a one-time cryptogram, and must be approved with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode, which limits the value of stolen data.
Can other wallets use the iPhone NFC chip?
Yes. Since Apple’s commitments to the European Commission in July 2024, wallet providers established in the EEA can use the iPhone’s NFC chip for free, and users can choose a default payment app. Elsewhere, Apple offers a separate, fee-based program.
Do merchants pay fees on Apple Pay and Google Pay?
When the wallet holds a card, the payment runs on card rails, so the merchant pays the usual card costs: interchange, scheme fees and the acquirer’s markup. Any extra wallet-related fee depends on the PSP’s pricing.
When will Wero work in stores?
Wero took its first in-store steps in Belgium in September 2026. EPI plans wider in-store rollout in France and Germany from 2027. NFC payments on iPhone and Android will start with cards, with instant-transfer funding planned from the second half of 2027.
