Despite the fact it isn’t quite the start of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple has something to announce. And it just so happens to be one of the most oft-requested features for Apple Pay, and brings the company one step closer to offering a completely full-service digital wallet.

Today, during the TRANSACT Conference taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, Apple’s Vice President of Apple Pay, Jennifer Bailey, announced a new feature for Apple Pay. Starting later this year, Apple Pay will support special NFC tags that can launch an Apple Pay purchase when tapped. This means that you’ll just need to tap the NFC tag, confirm the purchase through Apple Pay (through Face ID or Touch ID), and be on your way. No need to launch a separate app. It will all be handled with Apple Pay and the Wallet app.

To start, Apple confirmed two partners: PaybyPhone parking meters and Bird scooters.

This will make quick, on-the-go purchases a lot easier and faster. Just look at Bird for an example. Now, instead of having to load up a separate app, or deal with a hunky piece of tech for the point-of-sale, you can simply tap your iPhone or Apple Watch against a small NFC-equipped tag. This can top up your time with the Bird scooter, or with the parking meters, get you some more time to keep your car where it is.

That’s not all, though. The company also announced users will be able to sign up for a loyalty card within the Wallet app. All with a single tap. The company did not go into great detail with this future feature, though.

There is no specific date for when these features will launch. However, it is expected to arrive sometime “later this year”. It’s likely that we will hear more about this at WWDC next month, too.

We Want To Hear From You

What do you think of this new feature?