The European Commission said Monday that Apple was “setting the rules” on its closed platform and expressed concern that it was restricting access to a technology called Near Field Communication (NFC), which competitors need for fast-paying payments. stores that use mobile wallets. “On a preliminary basis, we have found that Apple has abused its dominant position,” said Margrethe Vestager, the committee’s executive vice president for competition policy. Apple has restricted access to key inputs needed to develop and execute mobile payment applications, so-called “mobile wallets”. The data in our archive show that some developers did not proceed with their plans as they failed to reach iPhone users. “ The commission said Silicon Valley’s Apple Pay’s service was “by far the largest NFC-based mobile wallet on the market.” “The preliminary conclusion we have reached today relates to mobile payments in stores,” Vestager said. “By excluding others from the game, Apple has unfairly shielded Apple Pay’s wallet from the competition. “If it turns out, this behavior would be tantamount to abusing a dominant position, which is illegal under our rules.” The committee issued a statement detailing the reasons why it believes the company “could illegally distort competition in the mobile wallet market on Apple devices” and giving the company $ 2.5 tn (£ 2tn) to respond. . Apple could face fines of up to 10% of its global revenue, which totaled $ 365 billion in 2021, if the charges are confirmed. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST “We designed Apple Pay to provide an easy and secure way for users to digitally present their existing payment cards and for banks and other financial institutions to offer contactless payments to their customers,” a company spokesman said. “Apple Pay is just one of the many payment options available to European consumers and has ensured equal access to NFC, while setting industry-leading standards for privacy and security. “We will continue to work with the Commission to ensure that European consumers have access to the payment option of their choice in a safe and secure environment.” European regulators are also investigating Apple for how it could harm its rivals, ending up to 30% of purchases and subscriptions through its App Store, which it found ultimately resulted in higher prices for them. consumers, following a complaint filed by the music streaming service Spotify in 2019.
