Apple has been at the hub of controversies regarding its policies especially when it has to do with its App Store or Apple Pay. According to recent reports, the EU is considering new regulations that may require the company to open up its iPhone payment technology to competitors. The European Commission said today that these potential new regulations will give other payment services access to some infrastructure, such as NFC embedded in smartphones.
Although the EU did not directly mention “Apple”, the move is considered to be directed at Apple . In June this year, the European Commission launched an antitrust investigation against Apple Pay. According to the European Comission, the investigation will look into some of Apple’s policies. This include forcing app developers to use its in-app purchase system. It will also investigate the policiy that prohibits developers from telling users that there are cheaper alternatives in other stores.
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Currently, the Apple App Store is facing strong opposition from some application developers. They said that the 30% of the Apple App Store’s policies are unfair. Many developers believe that these policies will only benefit Apple’s services. In addition, some banks and financial institutions also complained that Apple is unwilling to let them use the NFC technology in the iPhone.
Third-party platforms cant access Apple’s NFC
Currently, iPhone and Apple Watch users can only use ApplePay for NFC payments. The bank and other competitors said they wanted their iPhone apps to have the same functions. However, the American manufacturing giant did not give them the permission to use this feature.
In contrast, smartphones based on Google’s Android platform allow rival applications to use NFC technology. However, for Apple, it is restricting access to its NFC chip for security reasons. Apple claims that allowing rival mobile payment applications to access the chip may increase security risk.
The European Union stated that it has been aware of some operators’ restrictions on access to their infrastructure. The EU is also aware that there are some problems with the contactless payment function. However, this will not stop the commission from properly investigating Apple’s behaviour.
The European Commission stated in a statement that payment service providers should be able to use all relevant technological infrastructure to develop and provide innovative payment solutions under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and access conditions.
