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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