Apple agrees to open Apple Pay in the EU – here’s what it means for tap-to-pay
In recent years, Apple has come under increasing regulatory pressure to open up its walled garden to competitors and third-party developers. The latest casualty is the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology that powers features like Apple Pay. Apple has promised the European Commission (EC) that it will allow third-party developers to use the technology.
In a new press releaseEC regulators have announced that Apple has agreed to a series of changes that will apply across the European Union (EU) bloc for the next decade. The changes are also legally binding on Apple.
Not only has Apple agreed to make the NFC system on iOS freely available to third-party developers, it is also giving you the ability to change your default wallet and payment app from Apple Pay to something else.
These apps will be able to use features such as Field Detect (which opens the default payment app when your phone is held near an NFC reader), double-clicking the side button to open a payment app, and authentication tools such as Face ID and Touch ID. Additionally, an independent review body will be established to ensure Apple is adhering to the agreement across the EU.
By agreeing to the changes, Apple avoided a hefty fine from EU regulators, which could have totaled 10% of Apple’s annual revenue. Given that Apple is set to make around $400 billion in revenue in 2023, that would have left the company facing around $40 billion in fines if it hadn’t opened up its NFC systems.
What does this mean to you?
Once these changes are implemented, you will no longer be limited to using Apple Pay to pay digitally for goods and services with any of the top iPhones, as long as you live in the EU.
Additionally, Apple has agreed to make it easy to change your default payment app without having to jump through a ton of hoops. Again, we’ll have to see how that plays out in practice, but more choice for iPhone owners would certainly be a positive move.
By granting access to things like Face ID and Touch ID, it suggests that third-party wallets and payment apps won’t be hindered or limited in their functionality. That’s good news if you’re interested in trying out an alternative wallet on your iPhone.
We don’t know exactly when these changes will go into effect, but it’s unlikely the EU will be endlessly patient with Apple. We wouldn’t be surprised to see third-party wallet apps adopt Apple’s NFC technology in the EU sooner rather than later. What’s not yet clear is whether Apple will roll out these changes globally, despite its agreement with European regulators.
Last year, Apple announced that iOS would support RCS messaging globally after pressure from EU regulators, but a separate decision to allow third-party app stores left the change as a Europe-only change.