HCE / issuer wallet
Host Card Emulation: NFC payments from YOUR app instead of Apple/Google Pay - with iOS NFC access an EEA-only regulatory advantage since iOS 17.4.
HCE lets an app emulate a contactless card in software, so an issuer can offer tap-to-pay in its own wallet rather than surrendering the wallet relationship (and fees) to big tech. On Android it has been possible for years.
On iPhone it became possible only through EU competition law: under commitments in case AT.40452, iOS 17.4+ opens the NFC chip to third-party wallets - in the EEA only. European regulation created a European product edge; the catalogue flags providers that can deliver it.
Primary source: EMVCo - EMV Payment Tokenisation
In the verified data
- 7 live providers document production HCE tap-to-pay on iPhone in the EEA: Entrust, Giesecke+Devrient, IDEMIA, Netcetera, Thales, Verestro and Vipps MobilePay; MeaWallet is listed as likely, pending confirmation.
- The wider issuer-wallet category counts 10 live providers, 7 of them EU-core - token-in-your-own-app is a field where European vendors lead.
Recomputed from the catalogue and the official EBA, ESMA and FCA registers on every build — how we verify.
Questions to ask a provider
- Do you have HCE tap-to-pay live on iPhone in the EEA, or only on Android?
- Who acts as token requestor, and which scheme token services do you integrate?
- What must the issuer hold on its side - EEA establishment, PCI DSS, Apple entitlement?