Apple Opens Up NFC to Third-Party Apps in EU, Allowing New Tap-to-Pay Options

[MacRumors]

As part of major changes being made to the app ecosystem in the EU in iOS 17.4, Apple is allowing apps to access and use the iPhone's NFC chip.

Going forward, NFC payments will be available directly in apps without the need for Apple Pay or the Wallet app, paving the way for third-party payment services and banks to offer their own tap-to-pay solutions on Apple devices.

iPhone users can set a default app that will be activated when an iPhone is near an NFC terminal or when the side button on the device is double clicked, which means native support for tap-to-pay payments that are not Apple Pay is now available.

Apple will require apps using NFC for payments to confirm to industry security standards, such as having valid agreements with an authorized Payment Service Provider.

This access to NFC technology is limited to banking and wallet apps that are in the European Economic Area, which includes the 27 European Union countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

Article Link: Apple Opens Up NFC to Third-Party Apps in EU, Allowing New Tap-to-Pay Options

 

[BadApe]

Maybe the whining will end?

 

[danakin]

Trying to get in ahead of the first Mensa member (big sarcasm) suggesting Apple leave the EU.

 

[andrewxgx]

guess its time to short Visa and Mastercard

 

[cuiver]

What? Timmy is not getting a cut of this? Someone hurry up and let Timmy know, this must have slipped through while he was occupied snacking some Beluga caviar...

 

[JPack]

About time. It never made sense to lock it down in the first place, other than for Apple Pay commissions. Imagine if you could only use Bluetooth through an "Apple Bluetooth" app or send email only through the Mail app.

 

[jz0309]

That is all good, but for me I find it far more convenient to just double-click my watch to pay, that’s just me…

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Subject to "tapping authorisation fee"

 

[mthomas184]

The downside to this, I can easily see banks in the EU removing support for Apple Pay and if you wanna use tap to pay, you have to exclusively use their app.

 

[andrewxgx]

guess its time to short Visa and Mastercard

my biggest issue with Apple Pay was that it still relied on those stupid card issuers for no reason whatsoever.
its 21 century bros, we dont need some piece of plastic to scan so we can use NFC payment FFS

 

[andrewxgx]

The downside to this, I can easily see banks in the EU removing support for Apple Pay and if you wanna use tap to pay, you have to exclusively use their app.

and whats wrong with that?
its not that they dont want to Apple to get their cut (its ridiculously low)
its that their don't want card issuers to get their cut

 

[Art Mark]

the Eastern European tech mob will love this. they will start getting their bits from everything now.

 

[boak]

RIP Apple Wallet

 

[mthomas184]

Delete

 

[LightProtector]

The downside to this, I can easily see banks in the EU removing support for Apple Pay and if you wanna use tap to pay, you have to exclusively use their app.

If this happens, that would be the biggest backfire of all time. Imagine putting in antitrust laws just for other corporations to take advantage of it and harvest data.

 

[mthomas184]

and whats wrong with that?
its not that they dont want to Apple to get their cut (its ridiculously low)
its that their don't want card issuers to get their cut

Luckily I don’t live in the EU so I don’t have to deal with that crap. But if it came to the US and I was forced to use my bank app for tap to pay rather than just clicking a button for Apple Pay, I would either switch banks or go back to physical cards.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

What? Timmy is not getting a cut of this? Someone hurry up and let Timmy know, this must have slipped through while he was occupied snacking some Beluga

Calling Tim Cook “Timmy” is just about as cringe as it can get.

 

[jz0309]

About time. It never made sense to lock it down in the first place, other than for Apple Pay commissions. Imagine if you could only use Bluetooth through an "Apple Bluetooth" app or send email only through the Mail app.

What doesn’t make sense is for any payment system (eg Walmart) NOT to accept Apple Pay … and your comparison to Bluetooth is plain nonsense…
But, it is here now, in the EU, so enjoy

 

[LightProtector]

and whats wrong with that?
its not that they dont want to Apple to get their cut (its ridiculously low)
its that their don't want card issuers to get their cut

Nobody wants different apps for different functions. The appeal of Apple Wallet is having everything in one place. It’s so damn inconvenient to open that app to tap. It’s counter intuitive. I would straight up switch off that bank if they did that to me.

 

[VSG]

The downside to this, I can easily see banks in the EU removing support for Apple Pay and if you wanna use tap to pay, you have to exclusively use their app.

Maybe it’ll finally push Apple towards bringing Apple Card to continental Europe. I’d be happy to get it, alas it’s not available over here.

 

[jz0309]

and whats wrong with that?
its not that they dont want to Apple to get their cut (its ridiculously low)
its that their don't want card issuers to get their cut

Do, if you’re visiting the EU from outside day the US, you’re SOL… nice solution

 

[rb24]

and whats wrong with that?
its not that they dont want to Apple to get their cut (its ridiculously low)
its that their don't want card issuers to get their cut

Nobody wants different apps for different functions. The appeal of Apple Wallet is having everything in one place. It’s so damn inconvenient to open that app to tap. It’s counter intuitive. I would straight up switch off that bank if they did that to me.

Totally agree. I have more than one bank. Then there are boarding cards, tickets etc. So I want Apple Wallet to launch when there's an NFC reader, not some dumb bank.

 

[Rogifan]

The downside to this, I can easily see banks in the EU removing support for Apple Pay and if you wanna use tap to pay, you have to exclusively use their app.

What does that get them? Is there data they get via their own app that they don’t get if using that card via the wallet app?

 

[jz0309]

Happy for the EU, for me, in the US if my bank or CC were to force me to use their app for contactless payment - I’d switch…

 

[JPack]

The downside to this, I can easily see banks in the EU removing support for Apple Pay and if you wanna use tap to pay, you have to exclusively use their app.

Nah, it hasn't been a problem on the Android side and it's been open for years.

Banks prefer Apple/Google Pay due to the tokenization and it encourages customers to spend. Opening up NFC allows apps fintechs like PayPal to do P2P transfers via NFC.