The flag of the European Union appears on a mobile phone screen in front of the Apple logo on July 2, 2024.
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EU antitrust regulators on Thursday accepted commitments from apple to allow access to its tap and go payment technology to competitors, ending a four-year investigation.
“The Commission has decided to accept the commitments offered by Apple. These commitments address our preliminary concerns that Apple may have unlawfully restricted competition when it comes to iPhone mobile wallets,” said EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager. during a press conference.
The EU officially launched an investigation into Apple Pay in 2020. The investigation looked into Apple’s terms and conditions for integrating Apple Pay into apps and websites, as well as concerns about tap and go technology and alleged refusals access to Apple Pay.
In 2022 the European Commission found that Apple Pay could limit competition as it was the only option for iPhone users. Since then, Apple has proposed several commitments to address the concerns, and in January offered to give competitors access to contactless payment and mobile wallet technology.
Apple has committed to allowing third-party developers access to NFC technology without charging them, providing access to core iPhone features such as Face ID to competing payment wallets and allowing users to set any wallet of their choice as the default option, explained the Vestager.
Earlier this year, the European Commission market tested Apple’s commitments to gather feedback on the proposals. After its assessment, the committee concluded that Apple’s final commitments address concerns about the tech giant’s restrictions on allowing third parties to access its tap and go payment technology. The changes have now become legally binding on Apple.
“The commitments bring significant changes to the way Apple operates in Europe to the benefit of competitors and customers,” Vestager said.
“From now on, Apple can no longer use its control of 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 options while keeping payments secure,” he added.
The iPhone maker now has until July 25 to implement the pledges, Vestager said. All developers will then be able to offer iPhone mobile wallets with tap and go technology, he explained. The commitments are to remain in place for ten years.
“Apple is giving developers in the European Economic Area the option to enable NFC contactless payments and contactless transactions for car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, house keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty/rewards and event tickets from their iOS . applications that use host card emulation-based APIs,” Apple said in emailed comments.
He added that there will be no changes to Apple Pay or Apple Wallet following the investigation.
