iOS 17.4 came out last month with huge changes for iPhone owners in the EU, including the ability to use third-party app stores and pay for apps and services outside of Apple’s App Store.
This was made possible by force, i.e. European law on digital markets made Apple allow these things, otherwise they would never have happened. A similar case of “walled garden” impenetrable to third parties has so far been the ability to pay via the iPhone’s NFC functionality, which the company limits only to its own Apple Pay service. This, however, will change in the EU, perhaps as early as next month.
This is when the European Commission (EC) will accept Apple’s offer to open up the NFC tap-to-pay feature to allow contactless payments with third-party mobile wallets, according to “people familiar with the matter” speaking to Reuters. This offer from Apple was initially made in January, after a four-year investigation.
If the EC approves the plan, Apple will avoid a finding of wrongdoing and will thus be able to avoid a potentially large fine that could reach up to 10% of the company’s global annual revenue. Apple was hit with a €1.84 billion fine last month for thwarting competition from Spotify and other rivals through App Store restrictions, the first EU antitrust fine. Of course, Apple also wants it to be the last.
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