Apple will be accused of violating EU law by unfairly restricting access to the mobile payment system on the iPhone to third-party service providers such as PayPal and Venmo. Financial Timesciting sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, Apple will be accused by the European Union of “unfairly preventing groups such as PayPal and major banks from accessing its mobile wallet system,” and could face heavy fines if the allegations go ahead. Specifically, the European Union is challenging Apple’s restrictions on NFC technology on the iPhone, which does not allow third-party app developers to access the technology.
By restricting access to the NFC chip, services such as PayPal, Venmo, banks and other financial providers cannot provide iPhone users with an experience similar to Apple Pay. Apple claims its restrictions on NFC are to protect user privacy and security.
The new EU development comes at a time when Apple is under increasing pressure to open up its iPhones to third-party app stores and potentially make iMessage a cross-platform messaging service. New details of this week’s Digital Services Act are slated to pass the European Parliament soon, and the European Council could force Apple to open up its iPhones to other app stores and sideloading, a move CEO Tim Cook warned Fundamentally changing the iPhone.
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