The European Union has accepted the technology giant’s plan regarding payment technology.
The commitments assumed by the tech giant Apple to open up to competition access to a standard technology used for contactless payments using iPhones have been sufficient to respond to the concerns of the European Comission in terms of competition, as stated this Thursday the EU Executive.
The Commission determined in an investigation, started in June 2020than to exclude Apple Pay rivals from the market would restrict innovation and options for iPhone mobile wallet users.
Apple abused its dominant position
Said Apple abused its dominant position by refusing to supply ‘near field communication’ technology to the mobile wallet developers of its main competitors, and by allowing only Apple Pay access Apple hardware and software on iOS to make payments in stores.
Banks and other rivals argued that it is unfair for them to be seen forced to use Apple software controlled by the technology giant.
In January, Apple proposed a series of compromises to respond to the Commission’s concerns, and in February of this year the Community Executive consulted banks and application developers to test them.
Following these comments, Apple proposed additional solutionsincluding the possibility of initiate payments with payment ‘apps’ in other terminals certified by the sector, such as store phones or devices used as terminals, as well as making it easier for users to configure their default payment app.
Margrethe Vestager, vice president of the European Commission and head of Competition, declared today at a press conference thate commitments are already legally binding under EU antitrust rules.
“Other companies will be able to compete effectively with Apple Pay”
“It opens up competition in this crucial sector, by preventing Apple from excluding other mobile wallets from the iPhone ecosystem. From now on, other companies will be able to compete effectively with Apple Pay in mobile payments with the iPhone in stores,” said Vestager.
Apple has until July 25 to apply the changes. It will be in force for the next ten years, and the Commission will continue to monitor it. If the company does not comply with the commitments, the Commission may impose a fine of up to 10% of its total annual turnover.
