I don't like or think it right that Apple restricts access to its NFC hardware. However the banking and finance world is not an open-market operating environment as it is. The problem with opening NFC up is that every country in Europe has its own local banking apps that it likes to push, and the only reason banks here support Apple Pay is because their customers ask for it in large numbers so they can make domestic payments by NFC. If their own apps will start working for that, the only incentive banks will have for Apple Pay is those customers asking for something that will work internationally – which won't be enough. Thus we'll be in a Balkanized situation where we're only able to make contactless payments in our own countries. So, I wish the EU would turn some attention to this problem, and at least make collusion among banks to barricade foreign payment apps out of their markets more difficult than it is today.
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EU Plans to Hit Apple With Antitrust Charges Over Apple Pay
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It wouldn't make any difference. He mentioned cartel and that is a problem in many countries. For example in Norway when MobilePay (a early-mover Danish payment app) came in and started signing up merchants, all Norwegian banks banded together and agreed not to support it, standing up their own domestic competitor "Vipps" instead. They also banded against Apple Pay so we're in the awkward position that nearly every contactless merchant in the country supports it, but you can only pay from an account in a foreign bank (with currency exchange fees tacked on). Allowing these local apps access to NFC, without addressing bank collusion within countries to eliminate foreign competition, is only going to make this problem worse.
The theory was always that the fee pays for itself because Apple Pay reduces fraud due to its biometric authentication and thus reduces the cost for the banks.
But the biggest issue, at least to me, isn’t security—it’s fragmentation. The second banks are allowed to add NFC to their own heinous apps, they’ll pull Wallet support and then you’ll have to open each individual app to use contactless payments, which is outrageous. And we know they’ll do this because they always do.
Just look at your example—there is no reason why your bus card can’t be in Wallet. Either the company is a) trying to direct you into their app to sell ads and/or siphon personal info, or b) too lazy to integrate the tech (or both).
“[Evil Bank Megacorp] no longer supports adding your card to Apple Wallet. For “increased security” and “convenience,” open the [Evil Bank Megacorp] app to use contactless payments.”
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Yeah, well, at least you don't need Apple Pay to pay for gas, since there isn't any.
That's not at all necessarily the case. If consumers find Apple Pay to be a worthwhile feature, they'll choose to do business with the banks that offer it. By that same token, banks looking to capitalize on a popular feature will leverage that feature to draw in and retain consumers.
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The EU can regulate businesses as they see fit. Similarly, Apple or any other company is free not to do business there if they think EU laws and regulations are onerous. I doubt Apple will take that view however and give up such a huge, lucrative market.
Apple does actually allow NFC use over Apple HomeKit. To unlock doors for instance. If they want to keep their Apple Pay monopoly (and I’m sure they do) Apple should at least implement the access to NFC via Apple Wallet.
Edit: it turned out, that NFC within Apple Wallet requires a special entitlement and permissions from Apple. Companies like Starbucks have signed a legal agreement and NDA and therefore no open API’s exists for Apple Wallet.
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Hard disagree. Banks would each have to create a compelling product that has the ease of ApplePay and that’s hard. It would force Apple to maintain the quality standard that they have, though, and that in my mind is not a bad thing. Also, with the number of physical credit cards supporting tap to pay there is competition from banks although I will continue to prefer my watch than fishing something out of my pocket so that’s a hard sell to me at least.
Why does Apple have to do anything on their device. If you want to pay a different way, just use your tap to pay credit card. This is a feature that apple built into its product and their are plenty of other ways for users to pay.
What you call fragmentation is indeed open competition. Requiring every single kind of business from digital goods and services to banking build their own smartphone is an anti-competitive practice. That would, even if possible which is not, would indeed lead to device fragmentation.
This is Apple goal and will not be allowed to enforce it regardless of how popular are their devices. Which in effect it what is the popular part of the all thing. Everything else has been forced through a mechanism of technological levers and closed policies while pretending to be open.
What's funny is that this is the exact argument used by those who think Apple should be allowed to have a monopoly on iOS app distribution. "Consumers aren't forced to buy an iPhone. Devs aren't forced to develop for iOS." But guess what, Apple isn't forced to do business in the EU. There are many other countries available where they can sell their phones if they don't agree with the EU's terms.
That's not even remotely the same thing. States ≠ companies. And the EU would suffer as much as, if not more than, Apple if it were ever to pull out entirely.
Who said anything about building their own phone? That's absurd. Apple requires banks, e.g., to integrate with Wallet if they want to allow their customers to use contactless payments. The alternative is for every bank to force consumers to use their individual apps, not for them to make their own phones.
The EU is our only hope with companies like Apple.
America is fully bought out by corporate lobbying dollars
America is fully bought out by corporate lobbying dollars
Yeah, thank god the UK left a humongous economic union right on it's doorstep, the rules and regulations of which it still has to obey, while it has no longer a say in how they will come about.... That's really 5head...
What? All the bank would have to do is remove support for Wallet and force their customers to use their own app for contactless payments; they don't need to be (and can't be) competitive with Apple Pay. We see this already with Walmart refusing to accept NFC payments in their stores (and Target, Home Depot, CVS, and many others did the same for years) in favor of their own horrible app.
If reading a QR-code from the Apple Wallet is so great, why do Apple use NFC in the first place? Why not just use the awesome QR-code themselves? Because NFC is convenient and fast. There would be so many solutions for NFC, but one of the market leaders is using its monopoly status to dictate, where the progress goes. And it‘s to milk the users, not to progress anything unless it is more revenues / more milk.
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No, actually they’re remarkably similar. Just because you can’t see the similarities doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
- Apple can set basically whatever terms they want that devs have to follow, otherwise they’ll be removed from the App Store. The EU can set whatever terms they want, otherwise Apple will be prohibited from doing business there.
- There are other platforms where devs are free to offer their apps. There are other countries where Apple is free to offer their smartphone.
- Apple’s App Store is the only point of access to a significant and profitable part of the app market. The EU is the only point of access for a significant and profitable part of the smartphone market.
- If consumers don’t like Apple’s actions, they’re free to vote with their wallet. If citizens don’t like the EU’s actions, they’re free to vote come election time.
And you mean there’s a two-way dependence between Apple and the EU, where each benefits from the other? Kind of like how Apple and developers have a two-way dependence, where each benefits from the other.
I don’t see it as that simple. As you pointed out we like our unified experience. There is a reason Kroger Pay and Walmart Pay and the like haven’t caught on and scanning a code isn’t that much harder than tapping. Speaking for me, in the scenario that they could, if a credit card or bank decided to stop supporting Apple Pay and make me use their app instead I wouldn’t. I’d find a different bank or card that did for the ease of use. I suspect you’re the same. There is so much competition in the finance sector this is easy for us to do as well.
You aren't making any sense. I didn't even mention QR codes, let alone say they're "great." Apple has no control over NFC technology, only the chip in the iPhone. If your bus company wants to buy NFC readers and integrate with Wallet, they are perfectly able to do so.