In what will be a surprise new feature presumably for the Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update aka 'Redstone 1' this summer, Microsoft will unveil their new Wallet 2.0 app along with NFC Tap to Pay. I managed to get my hands on an internal build of the updated Wallet app, which has not seen much attention since its release, and with it, I was able to enable Tap to Pay successfully on a Bank of America debit card. Here is how the process works on a Lumia 950 including all the info you need to know.

The new Wallet 2.0 app is broken into two areas: Credit or debit card Loyalty or membership card When first launched Wallet will check your Microsoft Account for any credit cards already linked (e.g. for the Store) and import those for Tap to Pay. All of this is optional, of course, and interestingly my Lumia 950 even utilized Windows Hello for my account authentication, which was a nice touch. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more Unfortunately, my Bank of America Business MasterCard and American Express Corporate Platinum were not eligible for Tap to Pay. Those cards also don't work with Apple Pay either, so this is not too surprising. Banks need to set it up on their end including the associated security.

However, my personal Bank of America debit card did work, and you can see the associated screenshots of the enrollment process. Users can manually add the card or use the camera to scan them into the app.

Once entered, the information is verified by the bank through the app with a verification SMS code to complete the process. Bank of America then emailed me to tell me that my card was "added to Microsoft Wallet on the device (Lumia-950)."

Diving into my phone's NFC settings and Tap to Pay was apparently enabled and my new card was associated with the function. I could have multiple cards available with Tap to Pay and set one as the default card. Loyalty and customer cards Regarding the loyalty card area, users can pick from a list of companies and either scan the card or enter it manually. A barcode is then generated for easy scanning and users can pin those individual cards to their Start screen for quick access.

If a business is not listed, users can create their own barcode by entering in the information for the card. Currently, these are the available merchants. AAA

AARP

Ace Hardware

AMC Theater

American Eagle Outfitters

Barnes & Nobile

Best Buy

BevMo!

Big Lots

Bloomingdales

Cabela's

Champ Sports

Chico's

Craftsman

CVS Pharmacy

DSW

Eddie Bauer

Finish Line

Fred Meyer

GameStop

GNC

IKE

iPic Theaters

JCPenney

Lowes

Office Depot

O'Reilly Auto Parts

Panera Bread

Petco

Petsmart

Pro Sports Club

QFC

Red Robin

Regal Cinemas

REI

Rite Aid

Safeway

Sports Authority

Staples

Stop and Shop

The Body Shop

Toys (& Babies) R Us

Ulta

Walgreens

YMCA I expect this list to grow and since Wallet 2.0 is just an app Microsoft can make easy additions and fixes whenever they want. Does it work?

So, the million dollar question is does it work? As a sacrifice, or rather, experiment I went to my local McDonald's who are known to use Tap to Pay. I ordered up a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese to celebrate because I have not eaten at McDonald's in about a decade. At the moment of truth, I tapped my phone to the NFC reader and sure enough… …it worked! My payment went right through. Just as the directions say I did not have to have my display on, although the phone did wake once initiated. I also used Windows Hello to login although I am not sure if that is because Wallet requires it for security or if my phone had just enabled it for the Lock screen. Clearly, more testing is needed so I'll be eating fast food all weekend for science. Microsoft has announced that their mobile payments will utilize Host Card Emulation (HCE), making this a non-proprietary solution and one that piggybacks off current NFC payment systems already in place. As a result, Tap to Pay on Windows 10 Mobile should find ubiquitous access to NFC payment systems already installed. What that means in English is this should work at almost all places that currently accept NFC payments and it will not require a special Microsoft-Vendor-Bank deal.