The European Union (EU) hit Apple with a formal antitrust complaint on Monday, alleging the company’s dominance over the mobile wallet market the Apple Pay has curbed competition.
Apple Pay works with iPhone and/or Apple Watch using a groundbreaking NFC antenna design, a dedicated Apple Silicon chip called the Secure Element, and the security and convenience of Face ID or Touch ID.
[Apple Pay] is the only mobile payments solution compatible with iOS devices, giving Apple significant market power for smart mobile devices, the EU said in a statement of objections filed on Monday. A statement of objection is a formal step in investigations of suspected antitrust violations.
“We have indications that Apple restricted third-party access to key technology necessary to develop rival mobile wallet solutions on Apple’s devices,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s executive vice president in charge of competition policy. “In our Statement of Objections, we preliminarily found that Apple may have restricted competition, to the benefit of its own solution Apple Pay. If confirmed, such a conduct would be illegal under our competition rules.”
MacDailyNews Take: Beware the unintended consequences of overreach by overzealous quasi-governments. If the EU’s charges are confirmed, and the EU forces Apple to open access to the NFC chip to third parties, the iPhone and Apple Watch will likely become less secure.
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i am european but the EU is being infantile, stupid.
1. why should third parties leech APPLE who spent so much on R&D, from concept to execution?! do your own research, your own system you lazy F!
2. 3rd parties can still offer their payment options! through iOS apps?!
3. the EU or US that is also trying to give 3rd parties the right to use ApplePay/AppleCash system, is only DILUTING the security!!??! Opening cans of worms & Pandora’s boxes?!
if you’re a business: Instead of B_tch – WORK! Stop Sucking!
if you’re a user: don’t demand breaking your own security?!
3rd parties are unable to create their own HW to install within any iPhone alongside Apple’s NFC. This forces any 3rd party to use Apple’s HW/SW combination and pay a fee to the ‘gatekeeper’ for a piece of practically standard tech for touchless transactions. IMO if Apple had set up Apple Pay to receive payment from the insurance companies that cover fraud for CC transactions instead of the 3rd parties that are added to Apple Wallet, (In other words cost the CC companies nothing extra since the ones most benefitting from the alleged fraud reduction is the companies insuring those 3rd parties.) there would be a whole less complaining over access to the NFC chip by at the very least the CC companies.
Please name one 3rd party NFC accessing iOS payment App that does not pay anything via Apple Pay.
They are not trying to give 3rd parties to the right to use ApplePay/AppleCash. They are trying to get Apple to open up the API to make use of the NFC w/o using ApplePay. To essentially abstract out the SW from the HW so that the HW component is not tied exclusively to ApplePay and can be used for other innovations.
I hope that the EU’s soon-to-be-required iPhone changes don’t weaken the security of iPhones for those of us who will never install 3rd party payment services. I could care less if other idiots want to hand over the keys to their bank accounts to random corporations, just as long as I am not forced to do so as well.
Left on Left fight. Pass the popcorn!