EU: Apple to have to share tap-to-pay technology with rivals

European Union regulators have made commitments Apple legally binding under EU antitrust rules, forcing the tech giant to share its “contactless payment” technology with rivals.

A four-year European Commission investigation found that Apple “abused its dominant position” in the smartphone and mobile wallet markets refusing share technology for Apple Pay, the regulator said on Thursday.

Based on the findings of the investigation, the Commission said it believed Apple’s refusal to make the technology available “foreclosed Apple Pay’s rivals from the market and led to less innovation and choice for iPhone mobile wallet users.”

But now Apple will have to make its so-called Near-Field-Communication (NFC) hardware and software, better known as “tap and go,” available to third-party digital wallet providers for free. This will eventually allow non-iOS devices to make mobile payments in stores, and it will give iPhone users the option to use other digital wallets in addition to Apple Pay. iPhone users will also be able to set a third-party wallet as their default payment app in stores, including features like automatically opening the default payment app with the device on “tap to pay” readers.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for competition policy, he said in a statementthat the decision “opens up competition in this key sector.”

“Now, competitors will be able to effectively compete with Apple Pay for mobile payments with iPhone in stores,” she said. “So consumers will have a wider choice of secure and innovative mobile wallets.”

With this decision, EU antitrust regulators finally brought to an end the investigation they opened in June 2020.

Apple’s commitments will remain in force for ten years and will apply throughout the European Economic Area, which includes all 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Apple’s market practices have come under scrutiny in the EU as antitrust regulators crack down on practices they deem anti-competitive in the technology industry. Late last month, the Commission accused Apple of violating the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA)The regulator said Apple’s App Store prevents app developers from freely directing consumers to alternative ways to make purchases, and that fees for facilitating purchases through the App Store go beyond what is “strictly necessary.”

If the Commission finds that Apple has violated this rule, the company could be fined 10% of its worldwide revenue. Any repeated violations could result in fines of 20%.