How many times have you been lying on the couch, shopping cart ready, only to find that the website doesn't accept Apple Pay or PayPal? You have to get up, find your wallet, and type in the eternal 16-digit card number, the expiration date, and the dreaded CVC. A domestic odyssey that, in the middle of 2025, sounds more like a medieval punishment than a digital purchase. With iOS 26, Apple seems to have finally understood that memorizing numbers or running to get your card was pointless, and has brought order with a new button within the Wallet app.
Until now, the solutions were, let's say, inelegant. Some resorted to saving the number in Notes with a lock (risky, to say the least), others made do with Safari's autofill, hidden in unintuitive menus. Even with the Passwords app, many thought it would better accommodate bank details, but it was still just a patch. The logical thing was what Apple just did: create a space in Wallet specifically to store the data of our physical cards, with protected access via Face ID or Touch ID. And yes, the irony is that it took years to implement something so obvious.
The operation is simple and, this time, really useful. Within Wallet, in the new section of Autofill, we can add our cards and consult all the information whenever necessary.
From the full number and expiration date to the CVC. Not to be confused with Apple Pay, where we use a virtual version of the card that never displays this information. Here we're talking about having the physical card "digitized" for those archaic online payments that still require you to fill out every field. A couple of taps are all it takes, and we have the information ready to copy or let autofill do the dirty work.
The moral is clear: Apple hasn't invented the wheel, but it has managed to make everyday life less annoying. iOS 26 puts an end to that endless laziness of getting up from the couch for a piece of plastic and, in the process, reduces the temptation to enter sensitive data on unsafe sites. It's one of those small features that won't change the history of the iPhone, but that make a difference in everyday life. And even if it arrives years late, it's welcome: fewer trips to your wallet, more convenient shopping, and, above all, the feeling that sometimes Apple also thinks about the real lives of its users.