The preliminary finding could lead the EU to force Apple to open up access to the NFC chip on iPhones to third-party companies.
The European Union is calling out Apple Pay as anticompetitive for the way it allegedly stymies the growth of rival “tap and go” payment services on the iPhone. On Monday, the European Commission issued a preliminary finding that Apple “abused its dominant position in markets for mobile wallets on iOS devices.” “We have indications that Apple restricted third-party access to key technology necessary to develop rival mobile wallet solutions on Apple’s devices,” European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. The antitrust finding centers on the iPhone’s near-field-communication ( NFC) chip, which is used to facilitate mobile payments to point-of-sale systems at retail stores.
