EU antitrust regulators on Thursday accepted commitments from Apple to allow access to its tap-and-go payments technology to rivals, bringing an end to a four-year investigation, CNBC reported.
“The commission has decided accept commitments offered by Apple. These commitments address our preliminary concerns that Apple may illegally have restricted competition when it comes to mobile wallets and iPhones,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said during a news conference.
The EU formally launched an investigation relating to Apple Pay in 2020. The probe looked at the terms and conditions Apple sets for integrating Apple Pay in apps and websites, as well as concerns around the tap-and-go technology and alleged refusals of accessing Apple Pay.
In 2022 the European Commission found that Apple Pay could restrict competition as it was the only option for iPhone users. Apple has since suggested several commitments to address the concerns and in January it offered to give its rivals access to contactless payment and mobile wallet technology.
“The commitments bring important changes to how Apple operates in Europe add to the benefit of competitors and customers,” Vestager said.
The iPhone maker now has until July 25 to implement the commitments, Vestager said. All developers will then be able to offer mobile wallets for iPhones with the tap-and-go technology, she explained. The commitments are set to remain in effect for 10 years.
The European Commission posted: Commission accepts commitments by Apple opening access to ‘tap and go’ technology on iPhones
…In its investigation, the Commission preliminary concluded that Apple abused its dominant position by refusing to supply the NFC input on iOS to competing mobile wallet developers, while reserving such access only to Apple Pay.
The Commission’s preliminary view is that Apple’s refusal excluded Apple Pay’s rivals from the market and led to less innovation an choice for iPhone mobile wallets users.
Such behavior may breach Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) which prohibits the abuse of a dominant position.
The Commission concluded that Apple’s final commitments would address its competition concerns over Apple’s restriction of third-party mobile wallet developers’ access to NFC payments in stores for EEA iOS users. It therefore decided to make them legally binding on Apple.
The commitments will remain in force for ten years and apply throughout the EEA. Their implementation will be monitored by a monitoring trustee appointed by Apple who will report to the Commission for the same time period.
ArsTechnica reported: In two weeks, iPhone users in the European Union will be able to use any mobile wallet they like to complete “tap and go” payments with the ease of using Apple Pay.
In a press release, the EU’s executive vice president, Margrethe Vestager, said that Apple’s commitments in the settlement address the commission’s “preliminary concerns that Apple may have illegally restricted competition for mobile wallets on iPhones.”
Arguably, providing outside developers access to NFC functionality on its devices is the biggest change. Rather than allowing developers to access this functionality through Apple’s hardware, Apple has borrowed a solution prevalent in the Android ecosystem, Vestager said, granting access through a software solution called “Host Card Emulation mode.”
In my opinion, Apple is going to have to work hard to keep its commitments to the European Commission and make changes to how it handles “tap and go”. Apple’s deadline is July 25.