Apple will open NFC in iPhone for European banks – Kommersant
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Apple will give creators of mobile wallets and payment service providers free access to NFC (Near-Field Communication) technology used on iPhone smartphones for contactless payments, reported European Commission.
Since the release of the iPhone, no contactless payment services can be installed on it, except for Apple Pay, which is downloaded to the smartphone by default. The European Commission considered Apple’s ban on access to NFC technology on its devices for banks and mobile wallet application developers to be a violation of Art. 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position. Apple Pay is the only mobile wallet solution that can access the necessary hardware and software on iOS to make contactless payments in physical stores.
Following a trial that lasted more than a year, Apple agreed to allow third-party mobile wallet and payment service providers to freely access and interact via a set of APIs with NFC functionality on iOS devices without the need to use Apple Pay or Apple Wallet. Apple will create the necessary APIs to provide equivalent access to NFC components and the technology designed to securely store payment data and complete transactions using NFC.
The described capabilities will be available to all independent developers of mobile wallet applications registered in the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as to all iOS users with an Apple ID registered in the EEA. In addition, Apple will not prevent the use of these apps for payments in stores outside the EEA.
The agreement between the American company and the European Commission will be valid for ten years, and for violating the agreements, Apple may face a fine of up to 10% of the company’s global annual turnover.
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