In recent years, India has seen a revolution in digital payments, largely due to UPI. With the help of UPI, you can make quick payments by simply scanning a QR code and entering your PIN effortlessly and securely. Although the process is relatively fast, the tap-to-pay method is still one of the most widely used payment methods outside of India.

tap to pay

In India, popular apps like Google Pay and Paytm have now enabled support for NFC payments, but what exactly are NFC payments? How do you add your card to GPay and start making tap-and-go payments? Do not worry; we will explain and understand them in more detail below.

How Does Tap to Pay Work?

Before we look at how to add your card to GPay/Paytm, let us first understand how this tap-and-go payment system works. Many modern smartphones are equipped with NFC support, enabling the contactless payment system.

The NFC chip in cell phones works similarly to the chips found on many contactless cards that support contactless payment. In other words, you need to tap the back of your cell phone to the PoS device/payment terminal, and the transaction will be made.

However, the payment will not be successful if the chips are not properly aligned with each other. But you know what the best part is? NFC payments work even without an internet connection; how useful is that?

1. How to Add a Card in GPay

  1. Open the Google Pay application on your Android/iOS device and log in with your credentials.
  2. Now, click on your profile icon in the top-right corner of the screen.
    gpay profile
  3. Here, select Pay businesses.
    tap to pay on gpay
  4. Next, add your debit/credit card and follow the on-screen instructions.
    add card in gpay
  5. Boom, you are now all set to make contactless payments using GPay.
NOTE:
Only select Visa and Mastercard are supported for now, with support for more cards like Rupay expected soon.

Related: What is UPI Lite and how to set it up?

GPay Tap to Pay Supported Cards

At the time of writing this article, below are the cards that support the Google Pay “Tap to Pay” feature.

  • Axis Visa and Mastercard
  • State Bank of India Visa and Mastercard
  • Kotak Visa
  • HDFC Visa and Mastercard
  • IndusInd Visa and Mastercard
  • Federal Visa Debit Card and Mastercard(Debit and Credit)
  • HSBC Credit Visa and Mastercard
  • ICICI Visa and Mastercard
  • Onecard Credit Visa

Related Read: How to Make Tap-to-Pay Payments Without UPI Apps in India

2. How to Add a Card to Paytm

  1. Update your Paytm app to the latest version from the Google Play Store.
  2. Next, open the app and click on the screen’s search icon in the upper-right corner.
    paytm tap to pay
  3. Search for Tap to Pay. Alternatively, you can also navigate to the all services section and select the Tap to Pay option from the left pane.
    tap to pay on paytm
  4. Hit the Add a Card option and enter your Visa/Mastercard details.

Paytm Tap to Pay Supported Cards

At the time of writing, below are the cards that support Paytm’s “Tap to Pay” feature.

  • Axis VISA Cards
  • HDFC Visa and MasterCard
  • ICICI Visa and MasterCard
  • Kotak Debit Visa Card
  • State Bank of India Credit Visa and MasterCard (Debit cards not supported)
  • Yes, Bank Debit Mastercard

3. How to Set the Default NFC Payment Method on an Android Device

  1. Launch the Settings app on your Android phone.
  2. Navigate to the NFC tab under Connection Preferences.
  3. Here, select the contactless payments option and click on the Default Payment Mode option.
  4. Once done, pick your preferred NFC payment app like GPay or Paytm.

4. How to Use Tap to Pay?

Now that we have added our debit/credit card to our favorite tap-to-pay app let us look at how to use NFC payments in India.

  1. Unlock your device and turn on NFC on it.
  2. Now tap the contactless logo on the PoS machine with your phone and wait a few seconds.
  3. The transaction will be done automatically if the amount is less than Rs. 5000. However, if the amount is more than 5000 rupees, you need to enter the address PIN on your smartphone.
  4. If the transaction does not happen after tapping your phone, just move your device a little over the contactless logo on the PoS until it recognizes the NFC card.

Tap to Pay Using Google Pay and Paytm With Ease

Using the method we have described in this article, you can easily add your bank debit/credit card to apps like GPay/Paytm and start making NFC payments in India with ease. Also, we will keep updating the article in the future as support for new cards like Rupay is added.

Let us know in the comments below if you found this article helpful and have successfully added your debit/credit card to make NFC payments.

FAQs on Tap to Pay on GPay and Paytm

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If you live outside India, you can seamlessly use your smartwatch for tap-and-go payments. Right now, you can not install Google Pay on your smartwatch and make NFC payments natively. However, there is a loophole through which you can use your smartwatch to make tap-to-pay payments, and we are already working on a detailed guide.

At the time of writing, only Google Pay and PayTM support tap-to-pay in India. In addition, PhonePe has not announced any plans to introduce this feature in the near future, so we cannot speculate when it will be added.

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