Apple grants US developers the same NFC features ai in Europe

Following pressure to open up its iPhone NFC payment processes to rivals across Europe, Apple has decided to bring the same feature to more countries, including the US.

The European Union required Apple to allow rivals access to its technology under its recent Digital Markets Act (DMA). Now having created what it describes as a "secure way to offer NFC contactless transactions," Apple is allowing developers in selected regions.

Initially, those regions are:

Australia
Brazil
Canada
Japan
New Zealand
UK
US

More countries and regions are to follow, but Apple has not announced a schedule.

For developers now allowed access to the technology, it means that they will be able to offer in-app contactless payments, plus keys, reward cards, ID cards, and more. The developers will be able to do this without Apple Pay or Apple Wallet, but still using Apple's Secure Element to protect users' privacy.

"Apple has dedicated significant resources to design a solution that protects users' security and privacy," says the company in a statement, "leveraging a number of Apple's proprietary hardware and software technologies when making a contactless transaction, including the Secure Enclave, biometric authentication, and Apple servers."

From the users' perspective, they can open an app and then perform the transaction. Or they can set the third-party app as their default payment method.

In that case, they will be able to double-press on the iPhone's side button to bring up the third party payment system. It will take the place of Apple Pay.

Developers have to apply to Apple to get access to the NFC system. The application process involves an as-yet unspecified fee, and developers must meet various industry regulations.

The ability to use NFC as a third-party developer will be introduced along with iOS 18.1, later in the fall.

26 Comments

mknelson 1148 comments · 9 Years

About 4 months ago

That only makes sense - having API features in some countries and not others wouldn't be good for developers and would confuse consumers.

jgreg728 113 comments · 8 Years

This is fine as long as Apple Pay stays an option. Taking that option away from the hundreds of millions of users in favor of a separate app isn't a good thing either. I don't want to set a different wallet app to every single card I own.

Nms 3 comments · 5 Years

I will NEVER, EVER , install apps on my Apple devices that DO NOT come from Apple App Store.

I live in Europe and this is one of the reasons I use Apple Devices. I TRUST Apple.

Don't trust EU, or wannabe devs that want to save pennies sacrificing security and TRUST provided by Apple.

rob53 3312 comments · 13 Years

Nms said:

I will NEVER, EVER , install apps on my Apple devices that DO NOT come from Apple App Store.

I live in Europe and this is one of the reasons I use Apple Devices. I TRUST Apple.

Don't trust EU, or wannabe devs that want to save pennies sacrificing security and TRUST provided by Apple.

Comment back when you've been required to install government apps from the EU Store. I live in the USA and if my government forces me to install a non-Apple App Store app there will be so many people challenging this that the idiot who forced it will be removed from their job.

gatorguy 24627 comments · 13 Years

rob53 said:

Nms said:

I will NEVER, EVER , install apps on my Apple devices that DO NOT come from Apple App Store.

I live in Europe and this is one of the reasons I use Apple Devices. I TRUST Apple.

Don't trust EU, or wannabe devs that want to save pennies sacrificing security and TRUST provided by Apple.

Comment back when you've been required to install government apps from the EU Store. I live in the USA and if my government forces me to install a non-Apple App Store app there will be so many people challenging this that the idiot who forced it will be removed from their job.

You think that's something likely to happen? That said, I recall Apple tussling with Russia over a mandate to preinstall a selection of Russian government apps. China doing the same would not shock me.