Stripe users can accept Apple Pay in iOS applications in iOS 8 and above, and on the web in Safari starting with iOS 10 or macOS Sierra. There are no additional fees to process Apple Pay payments, and the pricing is the same as other card transactions.

Apple Pay is compatible with most Stripe products and features (e.g., subscriptions), allowing you to use it in place of a traditional payment form whenever possible. Use it to accept payments for physical or digital goods, donations, subscriptions, and more (note that Apple Pay cannot be used instead of in-app purchases).

Apple Pay is available to cardholders at participating banks in supported countries. Refer to Apple’s participating banks documentation to learn which banks and countries are supported.

Using Stripe and Apple Pay vs. in-app purchases

Apple Pay doesn’t replace Apple’s In-App Purchase API. You can use any of Stripe’s supported payment methods and Apple Pay in your iOS app to sell physical goods (e.g., groceries and clothing) or for services your business provides (e.g., club memberships and hotel reservations). These payments are processed through Stripe and you only need to pay Stripe’s processing fee.

Apple’s developer terms require their In-App Purchase API be used for digital “content, functionality, or services,” such as premium content for your app or subscriptions for digital content. Payments made using the In-App Purchase API are processed by Apple and subject to their transaction fees.

Accept Apple Pay in your iOS app

Stripe’s iOS SDK makes it easy to accept both Apple Pay and regular credit card payments. When the user approves a payment, your application will receive a PKPayment instance that contains their encrypted card details. You can use the STPAPIClient class to turn the PKPayment into a PaymentMethod. From there, create and confirm a Payment Intent like you would for a credit card.

Before you start, you’ll need to be enrolled in the Apple Developer Program. Next, follow these steps:

1. Register for an Apple Merchant ID
2. Create a new Apple Pay certificate
3. Integrate with Xcode
4. Check if Apple Pay is supported
5. Create the payment request
6. Present the payment sheet
7. Optional: Support Strong Customer Authentication
8. Handle the customer’s payment information

Step 1: Register for an Apple Merchant ID

First, you’ll need to obtain an Apple Merchant ID. Start by heading to the Registering a Merchant ID page on the Apple Developer website.

Fill out the form with a description and identifier. Your description is for your own records and can be modified in the future (we recommend just using the name of your app). The identifier must be unique (across all apps, not just yours) and can’t be changed later (although you can always make another one). We recommend using merchant.com.{{your_app_name}}. Save this value for later use when developing your app.

Step 2: Create a new Apple Pay certificate

You need to include a certificate in your app to encrypt outgoing payment data. This involves 3 steps:

1. Obtain a CSR (certificate signing request) file from Stripe
2. Use this CSR to generate a certificate through Apple
3. Upload the certificate back to Stripe

First, head to the Apple Pay Settings page in the Dashboard. Choose Add new application and download the .certSigningRequest file.

Next, back on the Apple Developer site, visit the Add iOS Certificate page. Choose Apple Pay Certificate from the options and click Continue. On the next page, choose the Merchant ID you created earlier from the dropdown and continue.

The next page explains that you can obtain a CSR from your Payment Provider (which at this point you’ve done already) or create one manually. Important note: you must use the CSR provided by Stripe - creating your own won’t work. So ignore the directions at the bottom of this page and continue on.

You’ll be prompted to upload a .certSigningRequest file. Choose the file you downloaded from the Dashboard and continue. You’ll see a success page, with an option to download your certificate. Download it. Finally, return to the Dashboard and upload this .cer file to Stripe.

Step 3: Integrate with Xcode

Add the Apple Pay capability to your app. In Xcode, open your project settings, choose the Capabilities tab, and enable the Apple Pay switch. You may be prompted to log in to your developer account at this point. Enable the checkbox next to the merchant ID you created earlier, and your app is ready to accept Apple Pay!

Step 4: Check if Apple Pay is supported

Before displaying Apple Pay as a payment option in your app, determine if the user’s device supports Apple Pay and they have a card added to their wallet.

import UIKit
import PassKit

class MyCheckoutViewController: UIViewController {
    let applePayButton: PKPaymentButton = PKPaymentButton(paymentButtonType: .plain, paymentButtonStyle: .black)
    var paymentSucceeded = false

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        // Toggle apple pay button state
        applePayButton.isEnabled = Stripe.deviceSupportsApplePay()
    }

    // ...continued in next step
}

#import <Stripe/Stripe.h>
#import <PassKit/PassKit.h>

@interface MyCheckoutViewController () <PKPaymentAuthorizationViewControllerDelegate, STPAuthenticationContext>
@property (nonatomic) BOOL paymentSucceeded;
@property (nonatomic) PKPaymentButton *applePayButton;
@end

@implementation MyCheckoutViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    // Toggle apple pay button state
    self.applePayButton.enabled = [Stripe deviceSupportsApplePay];
}

Step 5: Create the payment request

When the user taps Pay, create a PKPaymentRequest instance that describes the payment you want to make and configures the Payment Sheet. Stripe provides a helper method that does much of the configuration for you. See Apple’s documentation for a full guide on creating payment requests.

func handleApplePayButtonTapped() {
    let merchantIdentifier = "merchant.com.your_app_name"
    let paymentRequest = Stripe.paymentRequest(withMerchantIdentifier: merchantIdentifier, country: "US", currency: "USD")

    // Configure the line items on the payment request
    paymentRequest.paymentSummaryItems = [
        PKPaymentSummaryItem(label: "Fancy Hat", amount: 50.00),
        // The final line should represent your company;
        // it'll be prepended with the word "Pay" (i.e. "Pay iHats, Inc $50")
        PKPaymentSummaryItem(label: "iHats, Inc", amount: 50.00),
    ]
    // ...continued in next step
}

- (void)handleApplePayButtonTapped {
    NSString *merchantIdentifier = @"com.merchant.your_application";
    PKPaymentRequest *paymentRequest = [Stripe paymentRequestWithMerchantIdentifier:merchantIdentifier country:@"US" currency:@"USD"];

    paymentRequest.paymentSummaryItems = @[
                                           [PKPaymentSummaryItem summaryItemWithLabel:@"Fancy Hat" amount:[NSDecimalNumber decimalNumberWithString:@"50.00"]],
                                           // The final line should represent your company;
                                           // it'll be prepended with the word "Pay" (i.e. "Pay iHats, Inc $50")
                                           [PKPaymentSummaryItem summaryItemWithLabel:@"iHats, Inc" amount:[NSDecimalNumber decimalNumberWithString:@"50.00"]],
                                           ];

    // ...continued in next step
}

Step 6: Present the payment sheet

Next, create and present a PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController instance with your payment request.

func handleApplePayButtonTapped() {
    // ...continued from previous step

    // Present Apple Pay payment sheet
    if Stripe.canSubmitPaymentRequest(paymentRequest),
        let paymentAuthorizationViewController = PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController(paymentRequest: paymentRequest) {
        paymentAuthorizationViewController.delegate = self
        present(paymentAuthorizationViewController, animated: true)
    } else {
        // There is a problem with your Apple Pay configuration
    }
}

- (void)handleApplePayButtonTapped {
    // ...continued from previous step

    // Present Apple Pay payment sheet
    if ([Stripe canSubmitPaymentRequest:paymentRequest]) {
        PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController *paymentAuthorizationViewController = [[PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController alloc] initWithPaymentRequest:paymentRequest];
        paymentAuthorizationViewController.delegate = self;
        [self presentViewController:paymentAuthorizationViewController animated:YES completion:nil];
    }
    else {
        // There is a problem with your Apple Pay configuration
    }
}

Step 7: (Optional) Support Strong Customer Authentication

To support Strong Customer Authentication, implement STPAuthenticationContext.

• authenticationPresentingViewController returns the view controller that presented the PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController.
• prepareAuthenticationContextForPresentation: dismisses the PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController and calls completion in the dismiss completion block. Once dismissed, paymentAuthorizationViewControllerDidFinish: isn’t called; make sure you still complete your checkout flow in this case.

extension MyCheckoutViewController: STPAuthenticationContext {
    func authenticationPresentingViewController() -> UIViewController {
        return self
    }

    func prepareAuthenticationContextForPresentation(completion: @escaping STPVoidBlock) {
        // For security, it's not possible to present UI over the Apple Pay sheet
        if presentedViewController != nil {
            dismiss(animated: true) {
                completion()
            }
        } else {
            completion()
        }
    }
}

#pragma mark - STPAuthenticationContext

- (UIViewController *)authenticationPresentingViewController {
    return self;
}

- (void)prepareAuthenticationContextForPresentation:(STPVoidBlock)completion {
    if (self.presentedViewController != nil) {
        // For security, it's not possible to present UI over the Apple Pay sheet
        [self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:^{
            completion();
        }];
    } else {
        completion();
    }
}

Step 8: Handle the customer’s payment information

Finally, implement PKPaymentAuthorizationViewControllerDelegate methods to receive a PKPayment instance representing the customer’s payment information. Use createPaymentMethod to turn the PKPayment into an STPPaymentMethod. Then, confirm a PaymentIntent with that payment method using STPPaymentHandler.

See Using Payment Intents on iOS to learn more about the Payment Intents API, and Supporting 3D Secure Authentication on iOS to learn more about STPPaymentHandler.

This example assumes you created a PaymentIntent at the beginning of your checkout flow.

extension MyCheckoutViewController: PKPaymentAuthorizationViewControllerDelegate {
    @available(iOS 11.0, *)
    func paymentAuthorizationViewController(_ controller: PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController, didAuthorizePayment payment: PKPayment, handler: @escaping (PKPaymentAuthorizationResult) -> Void) {
        let finishWithStatus: (PKPaymentAuthorizationStatus, Error?) -> Void = { status, error in
            if controller.presentingViewController != nil {
                // Notify PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController
                let errors = [STPAPIClient.pkPaymentError(forStripeError: error)].compactMap({ $0 })
                handler(PKPaymentAuthorizationResult(status: status, errors: errors))
            } else {
                // PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController was dismissed to present authentication UI
                self.finish()
            }
        }

        // Convert the PKPayment into a PaymentMethod
        STPAPIClient.shared().createPaymentMethod(with: payment) { (paymentMethod: STPPaymentMethod?, error: Error?) in

#pragma mark - PKPaymentAuthorizationViewControllerDelegate

- (void)paymentAuthorizationViewController:(PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController *)controller didAuthorizePayment:(PKPayment *)payment handler:(void (^)(PKPaymentAuthorizationResult * _Nonnull))completion {
    void (^finishWithStatus)(PKPaymentAuthorizationStatus, NSError *) = ^(PKPaymentAuthorizationStatus status, NSError *error) {
        if (controller.presentingViewController != nil) {
            // Notify PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController
            NSError *pkError = [STPAPIClient pkPaymentErrorForStripeError:error];
            NSArray<NSError *> *errors = pkError ? @[pkError] : @[];
            completion([[PKPaymentAuthorizationResult alloc] initWithStatus:status errors:errors]);
        } else {
            // PKPaymentAuthorizationViewController was dismissed
            [self _finish];
        }
    };

    // Convert the PKPayment into a PaymentMethod

Troubleshooting

If you’re seeing errors from the Stripe API when attempting to create tokens, there’s likely something wrong with your Apple Pay Certificate. You’ll need to generate a new certificate and upload it to Stripe, as described above. Make sure you use a CSR obtained from your Dashboard and not one you generated yourself. Xcode often incorrectly caches old certificates, so in addition to generating a new certificate, we recommend creating a new Apple Merchant ID as well.

If you receive the error “You haven’t added your Apple merchant account to Stripe,” it’s likely your app is sending data encrypted with a previous (non-Stripe) CSR/Certificate. Make sure any certs generated by non-Stripe CSRs are revoked under your Apple Merchant ID. If this does not resolve the issue, delete the merchant ID in your Apple account and recreate it. Then, create a new certificate based on the same (Stripe-provided) CSR that was previously used. You do not need to re-upload this new certificate to Stripe. Once done, toggle the Apple Pay Credentials off and on in your app to make sure they refresh properly.

Accept Apple Pay on the web

You can start accepting Apple Pay payments on the web using Checkout or Elements. With Checkout, there are no additional steps necessary. With Elements, refer to our Payment Request Button documentation to learn how to add Apple Pay to your site.

Use of Apple Pay on the Web is subject to the Apple Pay on the Web terms of service.

Recurring payments

Apple Pay tokens can be used to create one-off payments or subscriptions. For repeat purchases that are not related to a subscription, we recommend you create single-use tokens. Your customer must authenticate with the Apple Pay payment sheet each time—attempting to reuse payment information for a non-subscription payment can result in it being declined.

Testing Apple Pay

Stripe test card information cannot be saved to Wallet in iOS. Instead, Stripe recognizes when you are using your test API keys and returns a successful test card token for you to use. This allows you to make test payments using a live card without it being charged.

Next steps

Congrats! You’re now ready to implement Apple Pay. If you’d like to read more about Apple Pay and its other configuration options, we recommend the NSHipster article on Apple Pay and the Apple Pay Within Apps presentation from WWDC 2015.

Learn more about integrating Stripe into your iOS app, setting up Apple Pay, or accepting Apple Pay on your website:

• iOS Integration
• Apple Pay on the Web
• Apple Pay Best Practices
• Using Apple Pay with the Payment Intents API