The European Union plans to file charges against Apple next week for blocking financial groups’ access to the Apple Pay payment service, the Financial Times reported, citing four sources.
According to the publication, the EU says that the company does not give third-party app developers access to Apple Pay and the NFC technology built into the iPhone, because of this, financial institutions cannot implement contactless payment. Thus, the company violates antitrust laws, the material says. At the moment, only the Apple Pay application can use NFC for contactless payment on Apple smartphones.
According to Apple itself, this restriction of access to third parties to process payments using NFC is due to security and user privacy goals.
The fine that may be brought against Apple is estimated by experts at up to 10% of its global revenue, writes the Financial Times. In 2020, the company’s revenue amounted to $274.52 billion.
Earlier, the EU announced a bill on digital markets, according to which Apple will have to allow third-party applications to be installed on the iPhone, bypassing the App Store. Then the head of Apple Tim Cook said that the new requirement could expose users to the risks of protecting their data.