Newsletter
The EU has been a thorn in Apple’s side for some time now, and now they might be about to make Apple allow third-party mobile payments. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple has been in talks with the European Commission again and has agreed to the change. If Apple’s proposed changes are accepted and applied, it is almost a given they will stay exclusive to the EU.
What does Apple allowing third-party mobile payments mean?
So what exactly does this news mean for the average iPhone user in the European Union’s 27 countries? It means that, for the first time in Apple’s history, iPhones will not be limited to just Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. When making contactless NFC payments, consumers will now be able to use third-party payment platforms. Before this move, Apple locked away its NFC tech on its devices from competitors. Only Apple Pay worked for contactless NFC payments on Apple’s devices.
When this move goes through, Apple users will be able to use a payment platform of their own choosing. Furthermore, iOS apps will be allowed to make NFC payments without having to go through Apple Pay. All these allowances are being offered free of charge to foster fair competition between the various payment services.
As per Apple, “Through our ongoing discussions with the European Commission, we have offered commitments to provide third-party developers in the European Economic Area with an option that will enable their users to make NFC contactless payments from within their iOS apps, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.”
The EU’s war against Apple’s “anti-consumer” practices
This isn’t the first time the EU has forced the American tech giant to make changes to how it operates. Perhaps the most famous recent example is the EU’s Common Charger law. This law forced Apple to finally ditch its Lightning ports and introduce USB-C to the iPhone 15. The Digital Markets Act also made Apple finally have to allow RCS (Rich Communication Services) support on its devices.
The most desired change also came thanks to the DMA. Apple will now be forced to allow users to sideload third-party applications on its devices. Before this change, this freedom was exclusive to Android devices and was a major selling point for Android. Apps on Apple devices had to be verified and authorized by Apple’s App Store, which was the only place to download apps from. This change is very controversial in Apple’s eyes, who deem it as “unsafe”, and will be exclusive to the EU only.
It remains to be seen if these regulations slowly make their way to other countries as well. Apple has a massive market share in the US, and these changes could severely impact its image. Apple prides itself on its “walled garden”, but these new laws could be looking to make it come crumbling down.