The European Union (EU) Antitrust regulator on Monday said, “Apple has illegally distorted the mobile payment competition by limiting the access to its NFC & Contactless payment technology on iOS devices for Apple Pay rivals.”
The regulators said, “The Commission has informed Apple of its preliminary view that it abused its dominant position in markets for mobile wallets on iOS devices.”
“The Commission takes issue with the decision by Apple to prevent mobile wallets app developers, from accessing the necessary hardware and software (‘NFC input’) on its devices, to the benefit of its solution, Apple Pay,” the regulator added.
Speaking on the findings, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President, In-charge of competition policy said, “Mobile payments play a rapidly growing role in our digital economy. It is important for the integration of European Payments markets that consumers benefit from a competitive and innovative payments landscape.”
“We have indications that Apple restricted third-party access to key technology necessary to develop rival mobile wallet solutions on Apple’s devices. In our Statement of Objections, we preliminarily found that Apple may have restricted competition, to the benefit of its solution Apple Pay. If confirmed, such conduct would be illegal under our competition rules,” Vestager added.
