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Apple offers to open NFC on iPhone in EU, likely to stave off antitrust regulation

A new report claims that Apple has offered to open up iPhone near-field communication central to Apple Pay to other payment services, to fight off antitrust claims in the EU.

The report on Tuesday, by Reuters is light on details. It cites "three people familiar with the matter," and doesn't discuss any context behind the alleged offer.

This entire saga began in 2019. Four years ago, EU investigators requested feedback from payment companies regarding Apple Pay. They were concerned that Apple's decision to restrict the iPhone's NFC chip to only work with Apple Pay would prevent other companies from entering the mobile payment market.

The European Commission, which oversees antitrust laws in the EU, has accused Apple of engaging in anticompetitive behavior since the launch of Apple Pay in 2015. Officials are convinced that Apple's limiting the iPhone's built-in NFC chip to Apple Pay is the crux of the matter.

Apple Pay is not the dominant mobile payment service in the EU, nor does Apple hold the majority of the smartphone sales.

The EU is not the first governmental agency to take issue with Apple's handling of the NFC on the device. Shortly after its launch, a group of prominent Australian banks attempted to boycott Apple Pay to negotiate access to the NFC hardware within Apple devices for third-party use.

However, the banks eventually backed down after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission denied their boycott request in 2017.

The EU is currently exploring other payment options for mobile devices, such as QR codes and Bluetooth technologies, as alternatives to Apple's NFC chip.

12 Comments

avon b7 21 Years · 8181 comments

Apple has a de-facto monopoly over NFC based payments, forcing other banks out of a business and hardware they can use openly on other phones.

I'm not surprised Apple potentially sees this as restricting competition because that is what it is.

It is not only the payment side of things either. Users of public transport systems in places like Barcelona are unable to use the system through the native app because iPhones restrict access to the necessary hardware. That is supposedly being negotiated but the authorities say access (which requires negotiation with Apple) could be over a year away. 

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
kelemor 6 Years · 31 comments

avon b7 said:
Apple has a de-facto monopoly over NFC based payments, forcing other banks out of a business and hardware they can use openly on other phones.

I'm not surprised Apple potentially sees this as restricting competition because that is what it is.

It is not only the payment side of things either. Users of public transport systems in places like Barcelona are unable to use the system through the native app because iPhones restrict access to the necessary hardware. That is supposedly being negotiated but the authorities say access (which requires negotiation with Apple) could be over a year away. 

Then the native app can integrate with the Apple Pay system. If Europe is so worried about technology restriction then maybe they should work on a European PHONE. they can always go the Chinese route of phones that way all the EU governments, as well as the Chinese government will know what your always doing. 


The banks don’t want to play because they didn’t get the info they want 

had to go to San Fran to visit people the clipper card for the BART transport integration in to Apple wallet worked fine once I learn how to use it. 

6 Likes · 0 Dislikes
avon b7 21 Years · 8181 comments

kelemor said:
avon b7 said:
Apple has a de-facto monopoly over NFC based payments, forcing other banks out of a business and hardware they can use openly on other phones.

I'm not surprised Apple potentially sees this as restricting competition because that is what it is.

It is not only the payment side of things either. Users of public transport systems in places like Barcelona are unable to use the system through the native app because iPhones restrict access to the necessary hardware. That is supposedly being negotiated but the authorities say access (which requires negotiation with Apple) could be over a year away. 
Then the native app can integrate with the Apple Pay system. If Europe is so worried about technology restriction then maybe they should work on a European PHONE. they can always go the Chinese route of phones that way all the EU governments, as well as the Chinese government will know what your always doing. 
The banks don’t want to play because they didn’t get the info they want 

had to go to San Fran to visit people the clipper card for the BART transport integration in to Apple wallet worked fine once I learn how to use it. 

The EU has no worries. It makes the rules. 

Integrating with Apple Pay natively is not a solution. It is part of the problem. 

Apple has a couple of options. Ride things out and wait to see if it actually is deemed to be limiting competition/harming consumer choice etc or take proactive measures. 

It looks like the latter might be the path they are looking at. 

1 Like · 0 Dislikes
across04 9 Years · 11 comments

There's no issue.  The EU want to impose its will on the entire world.  That is wrong. Yet they invent nothing.

3 Likes · 0 Dislikes
9secondkox2 9 Years · 3283 comments

Yikes. I definitely don’t want nfc opened up. I only trust apple with the money I soend with my phone. The eh ruins everything. 

4 Likes · 0 Dislikes