Advertisement
Apple has reached an agreement with EU antitrust regulators to allow competitors access to its tap-and-go payments technology, ending a four-year investigation into potential anti-competitive practices.
“The commission has decided to accept commitments offered by Apple. These commitments address our preliminary concerns that Apple may illegally have restricted competition when it comes to mobile wallets on iPhones,” stated EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager at a news conference.
The investigation, initiated in 2020, scrutinized the terms and conditions set by Apple for integrating Apple Pay in apps and websites, alongside concerns regarding access to the tap-and-go technology. By 2022, the European Commission identified that Apple Pay’s exclusivity could stifle competition for iPhone users. In response, Apple proposed several commitments to address these issues, including offering rivals access to its contactless payment and mobile wallet technology.
Apple has committed to allowing third-party developers access to Near Field Communication (NFC) technology without imposing charges, providing access to essential iPhone features like Face ID to competing payment wallets, and enabling users to set any wallet of their choice as the default option.
Earlier this year, the European Commission market-tested Apple’s commitments, gathering feedback on the proposals. After evaluating the feedback, the commission concluded that Apple’s final commitments sufficiently address concerns about restricting third-party access to its tap-and-go payments technology. These changes are now legally binding on Apple.
“The commitments bring important changes to how Apple operates in Europe to the benefit of competitors and customers,” Vestager said. “From now on, Apple can no longer use its control over the iPhone ecosystem to keep other mobile wallets out of the market. Competing wallet developers, as well as consumers, will benefit from these changes, opening up innovation and choice, while keeping payments secure,” she added.
Apple has until July 25 to implement these commitments, allowing all developers to offer mobile wallets for iPhones using tap-and-go technology. These commitments will remain in effect for ten years.
“Apple is providing developers in the European Economic Area with an option to enable NFC contactless payments and contactless transactions for car keys, closed loop transit, corporate badges, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty/rewards, and event tickets from within their iOS apps using Host Card Emulation based APIs,” Apple commented via email. The company added that there would be no changes to Apple Pay or the Apple Wallet following the probe.