The Apple Pay antitrust case will soon be decided, with a 10-year term

A new report released this morning shows that the years-long antitrust investigation into Apple Pay will soon come to an end.

He says that while some of the finer details are still under discussion, the European Union is ready to agree to the latest changes proposed by Apple…

A brief summary of the Apple Pay antitrust case

When Apple Pay launched, it relied on the NFC chip in the iPhone, which supports contactless payments. This chip could only be accessed through Apple’s Wallet app, which meant that any banks and financial companies wanting to support Apple Pay had to do so through the app, which involved giving Apple a small cut in transaction fees.

This led to complaints of anti-competitive behavior in many countries around the world, and the European Union launched an antitrust investigation in 2019.

The pressure increased in 2020 as the pandemic saw a significant increase in contactless payments, with Apple Pay expected to account for 10% of all transactions. The same percentage could apply in the context of a penalty, with the EU being able to fine Apple up to 10% of its global turnover.

In 2022, the EU announced a preliminary finding that Apple had indeed committed antitrust violations by restricting access to the NFC chip. The following year, Apple agreed to make apps available to banks and card companies. Since then, both sides have been working out the details.

The case was soon resolved, with a 10-year contract

The Financial Times. reports that both sides are rapidly approaching an agreement.

Three people familiar with the matter said regulators had approved a series of measures Apple committed to in January this year.

These include giving developers free access to NFC technology on iOS devices and without the need to use Apple Pay or Apple Wallet. Officials from Brussels are testing these solutions, which Apple proposed to maintain for a decade.

Apple declined to comment on the matter, but repeated its earlier statement that it has “offered a commitment to provide third-party developers in the European Economic Area with an option that will enable their users to make NFC contactless payments from within iOS apps, independent of Apple’s Pay and Apple Wallet.” “

9to5Mac version

While the report indicated that EU acceptance of Apple’s proposal is not yet certain, it would be extremely surprising if things fell apart at this late stage. The company has already adopted this policy, so all that’s left is to agree to the fine print.

Limiting the deal to 10 years almost certainly came from Apple’s side, with the company likely arguing that the mobile payments landscape would have changed dramatically by then, so there was no point in committing to anything beyond that timeframe.

The iPhone maker also unexpectedly announced yesterday that it was phasing out its Apple Pay Later program, with antitrust concerns a potential explanation for the decision.

Photo by Christiann Koepke on Unsplash