Add Apple Pay integration to your website: A UAE business guide

Apple Pay is one of the fastest and most trusted checkout methods for UAE shoppers, but adding it to your website isn't always as simple as flipping a switch.

There are a few ways to integrate Apple Pay, from using website extensions from your website builder to integrating a plugin from your payment service provider (PSP). For custom websites, you may need to use the PSP’s API solution.

For most e-commerce sellers, we recommend using a payment provider’s plugin because:

In this guide, we break down:

Ziina is a payment provider and mobile app that supports Apple Pay across your online checkout, payment links, and more. Integrate Apple Pay with WooCommerce or custom websites via easy plugins and customizable API solutions:

It’s usually quite easy to integrate Apple Pay when you’re using a pre-built website such as WordPress or Shopify.

This is because Apple Pay itself doesn’t process payments – it only handles the payment authorization through Face ID, Touch ID, or your customer’s device passcode on compatible iOS devices. Your payment provider is the one who actually processes the transaction in the background.

As such, many payment platforms make it simple for you to integrate Apple Pay on your website using a plugin.

Here’s a breakdown of how you can add an Apple Pay plugin to your WooCommerce website with Ziina as an example:

If you have a custom website, you typically don’t need to integrate directly with Apple Pay yourself. Instead, you can use your payment service provider’s Application Programming Interface (API) to add a checkout that already supports Apple Pay.

The exact integration process depends on the checkout options your payment provider offers, but some common approaches include:

A hosted checkout is usually the simplest API integration. Your website creates a payment session or payment link through your provider’s API and redirects the customer to a checkout page hosted by the payment provider.

The provider manages the checkout experience and payment methods, including Apple Pay, so you don’t need to build or maintain the payment interface yourself.

Some payment providers also let you embed their checkout directly into a page on your website.

In this setup, you control the surrounding page and customer experience, while the payment provider controls the secure payment widget itself. Depending on your provider, you may need to submit your website domain so it can be registered and verified for Apple Pay.

Some payment providers offer additional APIs that give developers more control over the checkout experience. For example, a provider could offer custom card components that allow you to adapt parts of the payment interface to your website’s design.

The setup and level of customization available vary by provider, so you’ll need to follow your PSP’s documentation for the specific integration you’re using.

For more information on what Ziina specifically offers (such as embedded checkout or hosted checkout), refer to our custom API integration guide.

As you can see, adding Apple Pay is much faster when you use a payment provider. They handle the heavy lifting, like security certificates and server configurations, so you can focus on your main goal: sales.

But not every provider is the same. Here’s how to find a partner that actually helps you scale:

Read more: A full comparison of payment providers in the UAE

Ziina Payment L.L.C. is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE as a Stored Value Facility provider.

Our platform is homegrown in Dubai and made for freelancers, e-commerce sellers, and SMEs in the Middle East that want to accept Apple Pay payments across multiple channels. Our Apple Pay integrations are configured for use in the UAE and designed to meet the applicable requirements for the payment services Ziina provides.

Here’s what you can do once you sign up with Ziina:

In the UAE, customers expect to pay quickly and securely using Apple Pay – and with Ziina’s payment gateway, you can give them exactly that.

With our pre-built checkout plugins, you can activate Apple Pay on your existing WooCommerce or custom website in just a few clicks. It’s a simple, guided setup that only takes around 5-10 minutes.

This means you don’t need to spend weeks reading complex documentation or hiring a developer to write custom code. Instead, you can get set up and start automatically accepting Apple Pay payments right away.

Please note that we don’t support Apple Pay for Shopify websites at this time.

To help you get set up, Ziina offers local human support in both English and Arabic. Our goal is to answer in 30 minutes, which helps you fix technical issues quickly and start accepting payments again ASAP.

Our fees are low and transparent: we charge 2.6% + 1 AED per transaction, plus 1.5% for international cards and non-AED currencies. Check our fees page for a full breakdown.

Once you start accepting payments, your AED will settle into your Ziina account, where you can use it on business expenses using the Ziina business card: a digital debit card that lets you spend directly from your Ziina Wallet anywhere that Visa is accepted.

Transferring your funds to your bank account only takes 1-2 business days for amounts under 25K AED. This can help you increase your cash flow, just like it did for our customer, The Expat Group:

"Nobody has time to arrange cash, add beneficiaries, manage transfers, or meet in person for card machine payments. People in Dubai need something quick and easy," said Paul Haddow, managing partner of The Expat Group.

By using instant Ziina Payment Links, The Expat Group sped up their own cash flow by reducing 7-day cash outs to just 24 hours.

With Ziina, you can use the same platform to handle web, app, and even in-person payments. For example, our payment links support Apple Pay by default.

A payment link is a unique link that you can share with your customers through social media (such as a WhatsApp group or an Instagram story). Once they click it, they’ll be rerouted to a Ziina-hosted checkout page where they can pay you.

Ziina’s all-in-one app also gives you access to:

Read more about how Tap to Pay works: How to accept payments without a card machine in the UAE

If you decide not to use our plugins, you can instead integrate any of our solutions manually. Check out our API documentation here.

Setting up Apple Pay on your website can be overwhelming, especially if you’re adding it to a custom website without the help of a developer.

That’s where Ziina can help:

Using our payment gateway plug-ins, you can automatically accept Apple Pay payments on pre-built websites such as WooCommerce or WordPress.

For custom websites, you can use our API to integrate Apple Pay directly into your checkout flow.

You can also accept payments across multiple channels by using online checkout, payment links, QR codes, and Tap to Pay.

Disclaimer: Availability of Ziina products and features is subject to eligibility, successful verification, device compatibility, applicable transaction limits, Ziina’s terms and conditions, and regulatory requirements. Customers are responsible for ensuring they hold any trade license, permit, tax registration, or other approval required for their business activities. Fees, limits, payout timelines, and product features may vary and are subject to change. Please refer to Ziina’s latest terms and pricing for full details.

This article was published in August 2026.