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Call for feedback on Apple’s wallet pledges

The European Commission has asked for feedback on measures proposed by Apple to address competition concerns over its position in the market for mobile-phone payments.

In 2022, the commission gave Apple its preliminary view that, by limiting access to a standard technology used for contactless payments, known as ‘near-field communication (NFC)' or ‘tap-and-go', Apple was restricting competition in the mobile-wallets market on its iOS operating system.

The EU body found that Apple Pay was the only mobile-wallet system that could access the necessary hardware and software on iOS to enable mobile payments in physical stores.

It added that Apple did not make the necessary hardware and software available to third-party mobile-wallet app developers.

Access

Apple has offered a number of commitments to address the commission’s concerns:

• It will allow third-party mobile-wallet and payment-service providers to access and inter-operate with the NFC functionality on iOS devices free of charge, without having to use Apple Pay or Apple Wallet,
• It will apply the commitments to all third-party mobile-wallet app developers established in the European Economic Area (EEA), and all iOS users with an Apple ID registered in the EEA,
• Apple will provide additional features and functionalities – including defaulting of preferred payment apps, access to authentication features, and a suppression mechanism,
• It will apply fair, objective, transparent, and non-discriminatory eligibility criteria to grant NFC access to third-party developers, and
• A dispute-settlement mechanism will allow independent experts to review any Apple decisions denying access to NFC input.

The commitments offered by Apple would remain in force for ten years. Their implementation would be monitored by a monitoring trustee, who will report regularly to the commission.

Interested parties can submit their views on Apple's proposals within one month of their publication in the EU's Official Journal.