For many customers, contactless payment has long been part of everyday life. For businesses in Germany, it is therefore becoming increasingly important to offer appropriate payment options at the point of sale. The main questions that arise are: what are the requirements for NFC payments? What hardware is needed? And how can these transactions be securely integrated into existing payment processes?

This article explains how NFC and contactless payments work, which cards and devices are supported, what security measures are in place, and how businesses can take these payments.

Key takeaways

• NFC payments involve contactless transfer of payment data between a card or mobile device and a compatible payment terminal.
  
• Contactless debit and credit cards, as well as mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, can use NFC for in-store transactions.
  
• Businesses need NFC-enabled hardware or a supported tap-to-pay solution to accept contactless payments. Stripe Terminal enables integration with your existing payment infrastructure.
  
• Encryption, tokenization, and other security mechanisms help protect sensitive payment data during NFC transactions.
  
• Contactless payment is well-established in Germany: in 2025, 98% of Germans paid with cards, smartphones, or smartwatches—at least some of the time.
  

What is an NFC payment?

NFC stands for near-field communication. The technology enables contactless data exchange over very short distances. When making an NFC payment, customers hold a contactless card, a smartphone, or a smartwatch up to a compatible reader. The payment information is then transmitted wirelessly for processing.

In this way, NFC provides the technical foundation for contactless in-store payments. NFC and contactless payment are often associated for that reason, although, strictly speaking, NFC refers to the underlying technology. For customers, this eliminates the need to insert or swipe a card.

How do contactless NFC payments work?

To make an NFC payment, customers hold their contactless card, smartphone, or smartwatch near an NFC-enabled card reader or payment terminal. The devices communicate wirelessly, without inserting or swiping the card.

In simple terms, the process can be explained as follows:

• The card or mobile device is held up to the NFC-enabled terminal
  
• The data required for payment is transmitted using contactless technology
  
• The terminal processes the payment and then confirms the transaction
  

This allows the terminal to process and confirm the transaction directly. The entire process usually takes a few seconds.

NFC-enabled cards and mobile wallets

You can make NFC payments with contactless debit and credit cards, as well as mobile devices. With physical cards, the NFC feature is built right into the card. With smartphones and smartwatches, you generally make payments through an NFC-based mobile wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay.

For businesses, this means: an NFC-enabled payment terminal can handle various contactless payment methods via the same infrastructure.

What hardware do businesses need for NFC payments?

To accept NFC payments, businesses need either an NFC-enabled card reader or payment terminal, or a compatible Tap to Pay solution. Many modern point-of-sale (POS) terminals already support contactless payments.

With Tap to Pay, businesses can accept contactless payments on supported smartphones without using a separate card reader. Depending on the device and region, the setup supports contactless cards and mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

If you already use a card reader or POS terminal, check which payment methods it supports. If NFC is already built in, you might be able to reuse the same hardware for contactless payments.

Accept NFC payments with Stripe Terminal

With Stripe Terminal, businesses can accept contactless NFC payments in-store and integrate them into their existing payment infrastructure. It supports contactless cards and mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. For compatible devices, Tap to Pay is also available.

How secure are NFC payments?

NFC payments feature several built-in security mechanisms to protect payment data from unauthorized access. These include encryption, tokenization, and the very short range of NFC communication.

• Encryption: The payment data transmitted between the card or mobile device and the terminal is encrypted.
  
• Tokenization: In many NFC payments, a digital token is used instead of the actual card number. This ensures that sensitive card information is not transmitted directly.
  
• Short range: NFC works over a distance of just a few centimeters. The card or device needs to be very close to the terminal.
  
• Authentication for mobile wallets: Depending on the wallet and device, authentication measures such as a PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition might be used.
  

How widespread are NFC payments in Germany?

Contactless payment is now firmly established in Germany. In 2025, 98% of Germans used cashless options—whether by card, smartphone, or smartwatch—at least some of the time. This trend is especially evident in mobile devices: 64% made at least one payment using a smartphone or smartwatch in the past 12 months, up from 59% in 2024 and 46% in 2022.

The shift is also visible in brick-and-mortar retail. In 2025, 55% of recorded purchases were cashless for the first time; for the girocard, the share of contactless transactions in December 2025 was as high as 88.5%. At the same time, 70% of those surveyed believe that stores need to offer at least one electronic payment option in addition to cash.

For businesses, this shows that contactless payment options at the point of sale are increasingly expected.

How Stripe Terminal can help

With Stripe Terminal, businesses can increase their revenue through consistent payments via offline and online channels. It supports new payment options, simplified hardware logistics, global coverage, and hundreds of POS and merchant integrations.

Brands such as Hertz, URBN, Lands’ End, Shopify, Lightspeed, and Mindbody use Stripe for unified commerce.

With Stripe Terminal, you can:

• Unify commerce: Manage online and in-person payments on a global platform with standardized payment data.

• Expand globally: Expand into up to 24 markets with just one set of integrations and popular payment methods.

• Customize checkout: Develop your own POS app or connect to your existing technology infrastructure through third-party POS and retail integrations.

• Simplify hardware logistics: Easily order, manage, and monitor Stripe-supported card readers—from anywhere.

Learn more about Stripe Terminal or get started today.

Learn more about Stripe Terminal, or get started today.

FAQs about NFC payments