EU Reportedly Satisfied With Apple's Plans to Open iPhone's NFC Chip to Rivals

[MacRumors]

Apple is set to conclude a lengthy antitrust investigation by the European Union into its mobile payments system by making significant concessions to give competitors access to the iPhone's NFC technology, the Financial Times reports.

The European Commission charged Apple in 2022 with violating competition law, contending that Apple was preventing competitors from accessing its near-field communication (NFC) technology to favor Apple Pay. In response to these charges, Apple apparently made several commitments to the European Commission in January, which now appear to have satisfied the regulators.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Financial Times claims that Apple agreed to provide third-party developers with open access to the iPhone's NFC. This access is said to not require the use of Apple Pay or Apple Wallet, effectively allowing competitors to create their own contactless payment solutions. London-based payment app Curve has already expressed interest in implementing its own NFC system on the iPhone once the agreement is official. Apple reportedly pledged to maintain this openness for a decade.

The settlement, which is expected to be finalized over the next few weeks, should help Apple avoid a potential fine by the EU that could have been as high as 10% of the company's global annual revenue. Given Apple's reported revenue of $383 billion in 2023, the fine could have amounted to approximately $40 billion.

Article Link: EU Reportedly Satisfied With Apple's Plans to Open iPhone's NFC Chip to Rivals

 

[brofkand]

What was Apple's argument for not allowing NFC access to apps, besides the obvious of wanting their cut from the transaction fees for using Apple Pay?

 

[StuBeck]

I expect a reasonable response from everyone in this thread.

 

[contacos]

As a Curve customer, they better not drop ApplePay support or I will drop them.

 

[Lyrics23]

It’s refreshing to see cooperation on this, and it’ll be interesting to see how others make use of the feature.

Competition is good.

 

[DakotaGuy]

When the EU is finally done with the iPhone it'll be running Android. 😆

 

[Unregistered 4U]

When the EU is finally done with the iPhone it'll be running Android. 😆

More interestingly, when the EU is done with the iPhone, it will have a higher marketshare than Android and they will see an increase in their digital marketplace as iPhone users, on the whole, purchase good/services at a greater rate than Android.

 

[ace8cjc]

What was Apple's argument for not allowing NFC access to apps, besides the obvious of wanting their cut from the transaction fees for using Apple Pay?

Apple tries to prioritize the user experience. By restricting NFC, they can ensure all cards are located in one reliable place - the wallet app accessed by a double-click of the side-button.

With NFC opened up, banks can pull their card from Apple Pay and force the user to open their app to access the card. They save on fees and you lose on convenience by not having all your cards in one place anymore.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Apple tries to prioritize the user experience. By restricting NFC, they can ensure all cards are located in one reliable place - the wallet app accessed by a double-click of the side-button.

With NFC opened up, banks can pull their card from Apple Pay and force the user to open their app to access the card. They save on fees and you lose on convenience by not having all your cards in one place anymore.

There are uses for NFC other than cards.

 

[scorpio vega]

When the EU is finally done with the iPhone it'll be running Android. 😆

Don’t joke like that. This is a terrible thought. I just start itching from thinking about an iPhone with android 😂🤧

 

[JLL]

There are uses for NFC other than cards.

Some NFC features are open for everyone to use. This was about payments.

 

[scorpio vega]

And I’ll still be using Apple Pay.

 

[icanhazmac]

Enjoy the access but I won't be allowing any other payment/wallet apps on my device. This is just another way to hoover data.

 

[justperry]

About time.
But, banking only or completely open?
Don’t get me wrong, I use Apple Pay and keep using it but other NFC apps should also be able to acces Apples NFC chip.

For instance public transport (everywhere) or connecting cards/passport to government App.

 

[Abazigal]

What was Apple's argument for not allowing NFC access to apps, besides the obvious of wanting their cut from the transaction fees for using Apple Pay?

How do you think Apple got the leverage to get those banks to even support Apple Pay in the first place?

 

[scorpio vega]

About time.
But, banking only or completely open.
Don’t get me wrong, I use Apple Pay and keep using it but other NFC apps should also be able to acces Apples NFC chip.

For instance public transport or connecting cards/passport to government App.

Why? They simply don’t want to pay the fees. Which is fair but they aren’t entitled to use apples chip.

I still will be using Apple Pay and should any card I use drop Apple Pay support I will drop them.

 

[boak]

And I’ll still be using Apple Pay.

If you still even have the choice to

 

[Marshall73]

This will open the door for Apple to roll out Apple Cash in more countries.

 

[Daul]

I’m really not seeing any end user benefit to this. Token “choice”?
Now every bank is going to say “No, you can’t add this card to Wallet. You must use our own app for NFC payments [or some third party wallet app].” Of course only one can be assigned to the side button at a time and of course this will be yet another way for us to sell your data!

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Why? They simply don’t want to pay the fees. Which is fair but they aren’t entitled to use apples chip.

It's not Apple's chip, it's my chip, in a phone I own.

 

[brofkand]

Apple tries to prioritize the user experience. By restricting NFC, they can ensure all cards are located in one reliable place - the wallet app accessed by a double-click of the side-button.

With NFC opened up, banks can pull their card from Apple Pay and force the user to open their app to access the card. They save on fees and you lose on convenience by not having all your cards in one place anymore.

Has that happened on Android, where NFC has never been restricted?

There is so much FUD on here when Apple gets forced to treat their platforms like every other platform in history has been treated.

 

[justperry]

Why? They simply don’t want to pay the fees. Which is fair but they aren’t entitled to use apples chip.

I still will be using Apple Pay and should any card I use drop Apple Pay support I will drop them.

NFC is not an Apple invention, afaik it’s NXP and should have been open standard right from the beginning, it’s ubiquitous nowadays.

 

[Nekronos]

Apple tries to prioritize the user experience. By restricting NFC, they can ensure all cards are located in one reliable place - the wallet app accessed by a double-click of the side-button.

With NFC opened up, banks can pull their card from Apple Pay and force the user to open their app to access the card. They save on fees and you lose on convenience by not having all your cards in one place anymore.

That's not going to happen, apple pay is one of the tiniest fees of all the fingers in the pie. This has already been how NFC works on androids and google pay remains widely used.

 

[tmarsden]

When the EU is finally done with the iPhone it'll be running Android. 😆

That would be awesome, Android is actually really nice.

 

[scorpio vega]

If you still even have the choice to

I’ll drop whatever bank if I have to.