Changes on your iPhone: Now you can use new payment systems besides Apple Pay

This article was originally published in English

Tech giant Apple’s commitment to open up to competitors access to the standard technology used to contactless payments using iPhone was enough to react to concerns of the European Commission on competition issues, the EU executive said on Thursday.

In an investigation launched in June 2020, the Commission found that Apple Pay’s competitors had been excluded from the market. will limit innovation and opportunities for iPhone mobile wallet users.

Apple abused its dominant position

Said Apple abused its dominant position refusing to provide “near field communication” technology to mobile wallet developers of its main competitors and allowing only Apple Pay access to Apple’s iOS “hardware” and “software” to make payments in stores.

Banks and other competitors argued that it was unfair for them to be in the public eye. forced to use Apple software controlled by a tech giant.

In January, Apple has proposed a number of compromises to respond to the Commission’s concerns, and in February this year the Community Executive consulted with banks and app developers to test them.

Following these comments, Apple offered additional solutions, including the ability to initiate payments using payment “apps” in other industry-certified terminals, for example, phones or devices in stores used as terminals, and making it easier for users to set up a default payment app.

Margrethe Vestager, Vice-President of the European Commission and Head of Competition, told a press conference today thatThe obligations are already legally binding in accordance with EU antitrust rules.

“Other companies will be able to compete effectively with Apple Pay”

“This opens up competition in this vital sector. by preventing Apple from excluding other mobile wallets from the iPhone ecosystem. From now on, other companies will be able to compete effectively with Apple Pay mobile payments using iPhone in stores,” Vestager said.

Apple has until July 25 to apply the changes. It will remain in force for the next ten years and the Commission will continue to monitor it. If a company fails to comply with its obligations, the Commission can impose a fine of up to 10% of its total annual turnover.