A federal judge in California has certified a class of U.S. payment-card issuers in an antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of charging inflated Apple Pay fees and locking rivals out of tap-and-pay wallets on iPhones.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White issued the order on Sept. 23, 2026, in the Northern District of California. The ruling lets the case proceed on a classwide basis and rejects Apple’s bid to exclude expert testimony that plaintiffs say shows common proof of monopoly power in tap-and-pay iOS wallets and in a broader mobile-wallet market.
The certified class covers U.S. entities that issued payment cards enabled for Apple Pay and paid Apple a fee on those transactions. Named plaintiffs include three credit unions. Their lawyers, Hagens Berman and Sperling Kenny Nachwalter, say those issuers were harmed by what they call “supracompetitive” transaction fees and by practices designed to lock in Apple Pay. The court also named Hagens Berman co-class counsel.
“We are pleased with the ruling and look forward to next steps of litigation,” Hagens Berman co-founder Steve Berman said in a statement.
What the lawsuit claims
The complaint alleges Apple extracts as much as $1 billion a year in Apple Pay fees in violation of federal antitrust law. Plaintiffs say Apple blocks competing wallets from using the NFC technology needed for contactless payments on iOS, leaving Apple Pay as the only tap-and-pay option on iPhones and Apple Watches.
They contrast that with Android, where issuers pay nothing for tap-and-pay through supported wallets. On Apple Pay, they say U.S. card issuers are charged 15 basis points on credit transactions and 0.5 cents on debit. The suit seeks repayment of those fees and an injunction against the challenged policies.
MacDailyNews Note: Class certification is a procedural step, not a finding that Apple broke the law. Apple has long denied the allegations; the firm’s press release announcing the ruling did not include a company comment. The case remains pending.
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