Apple Offers to Settle EU’s Antitrust Probe Into Tap-to-Pay Tech

Samuel Stolton, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. vowed to open up its coveted tap-to-pay technology on iPhones to rivals in a bid to sidestep potentially massive European Union antitrust fines.

The European Commission announced on Friday that the US tech giant has pitched a 10-year offer to give other “mobile wallet” providers access to its closely guarded payments chip on Apple devices.

This followed EU warnings that restricting access to the technology amounted to an abuse of its market power.

The Brussels-based regulator said it’s now seeking feedback from rivals on the proposed deal. If they conclude that the offer fixes the EU’s concerns, then the concessions would become legally binding.

Apple would then have to honor its pledge or risk a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue.

Apple’s digital wallet solution allows consumers to store virtual debit and credit cards on iPhones, in addition to ticket bookings. Its tap-to-pay tech, the near-field communication, or NFC, chip, allows payments to be processed via a card reader at a cash register.

Apple’s EU offer would allow third-party developers “an option that will enable their users to make NFC contactless payments from within their iOS apps,” according to a spokesperson. “Apple Pay will continue to be a broadly available option.”

Apple has maintained strong restrictions on access to the NFC antenna, setting high standards for rival payment providers, which those competitors claim violates the EU’s competition rules.

Following the EU’s statement of objections in May 2022, Apple said that it ensures “equal access to NFC while setting industry-leading standards for privacy and security.”

Despite the settlement offer, Apple’s antitrust conflicts with the EU are far from over.

It faces a potentially hefty fine as well as a ban on App Store rules it allegedly used to thwart music-streaming rivals, in another round of the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s crackdown on Big Tech.

Apple has also been ordered to pay back €13 billion ($14.2 billion) of allegedly unfair Irish tax breaks — though that decision is still being fought over at the bloc’s top court.

(Updates with details of case and Apple comment starting in 2nd paragraph.)