Apple is expected to allow European developers to use contactless payment outside of the Apple Pay app very soon. The European Commission will give its agreement.
Despite himself, Apple increasingly opens up its mobile operating system iOS to competition. At least in Europe. This is the result of many years of negotiations, legal proceedings and the implementation of regulations requiring certain things.
Among these, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Market Act have clearly changed the situation. Since the arrival of the iOS 17.4 update, you can, for example, install emulators on your iPhone from the App Store, which was unthinkable just a few months ago.
There are still a few areas where the changes are not yet effective, but they are happening. One of them concerns Apple Pay, the payment application for which the firm has been accused of abuse of dominant position by Europe. In particular, the Old Continent criticized the American giant for reserve contactless payments, via NFC, at your service to the detriment of others. This exclusivity will drop very soon according to Reuters, which cites sources close to the matter.
Contactless payment via iPhone will no longer necessarily go through Apple Pay
In order to avoid another hefty fine like the one the company received because of Spotify, Apple offered access to its contactless payment system for all developers from January 2024. It is accompanied by choice of your dedicated default application and some possibility of implementing identification by FaceID, among others. These changes have been sent to the European Commission, which wants some additional adjustments following feedback from competitors and users.
In theory, the agreement should be ratified by this summer, at the earliest in May. Much will depend on how quickly Apple makes the requested changes and deploys the necessary updates. Tap to Pay technology, which allows you to use an iPhone as a payment terminal, is also affected. Once applied, the new text will be effective for 10 years.