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EU Plans to Hit Apple With Antitrust Charges Over Apple Pay

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The European Commission is planning to charge Apple with anticompetitive behavior with regards to Apple Pay, since it is the only payment service that can use the iPhone's Near-Field Communication (NFC) chip, Reuters reports.

apple-pay.jpeg

EU antitrust investigator Margrethe Vestager has been investigating Apple Pay since June last year, but the European Commission has since centered its focus on the NFC chip alone, according to individuals familiar with the matter speaking to Reuters.

The NFC chip in the iPhone and Apple Watch enables tap-and-go contactless payments, but Apple Pay is the only payment service that can use this hardware. On Android devices, multiple payment services can offer contactless payments using the NFC chip, but on the iPhone, no rival services are allowed to leverage the NFC hardware.

The Commission's preliminary concerns also reportedly include Apple's terms and conditions on how Apple Pay should be used in merchants' apps and on websites. Concerns may have been raised by Apple Pay's wide reach and better user experience on the iPhone compared to other services, and accelerated by the growth of contactless payments during the global health crisis.

The EU competition enforcer is now believed to be preparing a statement of objections to charge Apple with anticompetitive conduct, which is expected to be sent to the company next year. The antitrust charge could put Apple at risk of a large fine and force it to open the NFC chip to rival payment systems in Europe. Similar investigations have also been opened in Australia.

Article Link: EU Plans to Hit Apple With Antitrust Charges Over Apple Pay
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/06/eu-plans-antitrust-charges-apple-pay/
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From Win to Mac

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Perhaps a lawyer can jump in for this question: when a company is accused of antitrust behavior, isn't there a requirement that consumers are forced to use the product, or are at least significantly disadvantaged if they don't?

I mean it in the context of, no one is really forced to buy an iPhone, anyone can easily switch to Android. I contrast that with Microsoft's antitrust in the 90s, where they had 90% market share and much of the software was only available on Windows, which de facto forced everyone onto Windows.
 
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orbital~debris

orbital~debris

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alexandr said:
good, if they take apple pay away from e.u. they will stop bragging every time there is some article about how apple pay is finally being implemented in another u.s.a. city's metro system.
Click to expand...

Confused by your post… Who is 'they'? And have you used 'they' to refer to more than one group?

Regardless, I don't think Pay is not going to disappear from the EU as a result of antitrust charge. It's more likely Apple will be required to make concessions to operate in that market.
 
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alexandr

alexandr

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orbital~debris said:
Confused by your post… Who is 'they'? And have you used 'they' to refer to more than one group?

Regardless, I don't think Pay is not going to disappear from the EU as a result of antitrust charge. It's more likely Apple will be required to make concessions to operate in that market.
Click to expand...
sorry, i didn't think anyone would take my post as a serious one. 'they' are people who respond with comments such as — "whaat, we've had apple pay on the tube here for ages" etc.
 
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From Win to Mac

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dwaltwhit said:
I think the alternative here would be for apple to create a separate app that has access to the NFC chip so that it keeps it isolated from everything else on the phone.
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Nah, it's like any other app that accesses a piece of hardware, wether it's the Camera or Location. You just need a public API with permissions. In this case the API would also enable integration with Wallet.
 
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jarman92

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What is it that the EU doesn't understand about consumers not wanting massive fragmentation in every aspect of their lives? For example, if banks are allowed direct access to the NFC chip they're going to force you to open/use their terrible apps to use Apple Pay. Without Apple strong-arming them, they would have already done so in Australia.
 
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0924487

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I would like to have full access of the NFC as well. It's such an interesting toy to learn hardware RF Engineering and communication systems programming.

Currently, you need a linux machine with a developer RFID board, which I have one. You can do anything with it, good or bad...

The Apple restrictions here and there on iPadOS and iOS is pushing me closer and closer to get an Android for a spin. I have a list, and it's almost long enough.
 
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The Phazer

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From Win to Mac said:
Perhaps a lawyer can jump in for this question: when a company is accused of antitrust behavior, isn't there a requirement that consumers are forced to use the product, or are at least significantly disadvantaged if they don't?
Click to expand...

No, not in the slightest, especially in Europe.

Marketshare is not really a test in European antitrust law, the test is if they have a material ability to impact consumer pricing. Antitrust actions against companies with minority marketshares aren't uncommon in the EU.
 
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zorinlynx

zorinlynx

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Is this really an issue? I mean, Apple Pay is just a conduit, that allows a payment card provider to offer NFC on the iPhone. It's not like you're only limited to using Apple Card. I have all my cards in Apple Pay and can use any one of them, and it's exactly the same from my perspective as using the card directly.

Apple just provides a conduit and interface, not really the service itself.

If it were something like, only Apple Card can use Apple Pay, I'd get it, but it's not like that.
 
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t76turbo

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How do these POS eu countries feel like they can force businesses to operate in a way they want them to at every turn? If you dont like the way Apple does it, there are other phones with other operating systems. If you were forced to buy an iphone, then I would agree with the eu stance. But since you arent, they are full of excrement.
 
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JPack

JPack

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From Win to Mac said:
Perhaps a lawyer can jump in for this question: when a company is accused of antitrust behavior, isn't there a requirement that consumers are forced to use the product, or are at least significantly disadvantaged if they don't?

I mean it in the context of, no one is really forced to buy an iPhone, anyone can easily switch to Android. I contrast that with Microsoft's antitrust in the 90s, where they had 90% market share and much of the software was only available on Windows, which de facto forced everyone onto Windows.
Click to expand...
Because the EU antitrust law uses market power as a determinant.

That includes things such as barriers to entry, profitability, and brand loyalty. If few other companies can make a deal with banks and encourage merchants to use another type of NFC, that makes Apple’s implementation of NFC on their dominant iPhone subject to antitrust.
 
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macar00n

macar00n

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I didn't know the EU and South Korea had so much in common. They may be geographically separate, but they live in the same fantasy world where one company can build something great, and others are entitled to use it for free even though other options are available
 
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justperry

justperry

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About time.


Edit:
Reason I say this, I think NFC should be open, If you have an android phone (Where I live) you can have a higher security level needed for some government services.
That's not all, NFC should've be open from the beginning, but Apple thinks it's a good idea for it to be a closed system, for 1 reason only, to subtract more cash from consumers.
 
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