Payments will be bypassed – Kommersant FM
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It will become easier for iPhone owners to pay for in-app purchases. Apple allowed Russians to conduct transactions bypassing the App Store. Previously, the IT corporation processed all operations independently, but now domestic utility developers will be allowed to embed links to third-party payment systems. This means that it will again be possible to purchase, for example, subscriptions using Russian bank cards. However, the company did not specify how long this functionality will appear. Why did Apple take such a step now? And will anything really change for users in practice? Ivan Khorushevsky sorted it out.
Russians will not be the first to try out the new function. Previously, Apple already allowed users from the Netherlands and South Korea to pay for purchases bypassing the App Store. In both cases, court decisions and regulators forced the IT giant to change its policy. Russia is no exception.
At the beginning of 2023, the corporation received a billion dollar fine from the Federal Antimonopoly Service. They admitted that Apple is imposing its own payment tools. At first, the company denied the accusations, but in the end, it still accommodated the developers. And this is definitely good news for the market, says IT expert and author of the BeardyCast podcast Sergei Epikhin:
“Since the moment when the Visa and Mastercard payment systems stopped working in Russia, users of Apple technology have been left without the opportunity to use the App Store to the fullest or sign up for subscriptions through it. The only way this could be done was to deposit money into an Apple ID account using two mobile operators. And the scheme is complex, and not everyone uses these operators.”
The developers, however, have adapted to the new conditions and have been accepting payments with Russian bank cards throughout the last year, bypassing Apple, Kommersant FM’s interlocutors note. The IT giant from Cupertino, however, threatened to remove applications from the App Store for this, but domestic businesses found loopholes. Users are asked to make purchases on the website of the creators of the utility. Then they issue a special code with which you can activate, for example, a subscription on a mobile device.
However, Apple’s decision will simplify this procedure, notes Sergei Kuznetsov, editor-in-chief of itzine.ru and author of the ForGeeks podcast:
“There will definitely be a more user-friendly interface. Now, if you click on the “Buy Subscription” button, you will be shown that you can pay through your Apple ID directly by entering your card number. You will most likely be redirected to Safari, some internal page on the site will open, you will enter your card number there, then it will return you to the application and directly transmit information that the purchase has been made.”
However, the right to use third-party tools will not be free. For all purchases that bypass the App Store, Apple plans to charge a commission of 27%. This causes confusion among developers: why give part of the profit to the IT giant, if for the last year they have already been able to accept payments on their own sites without interest or consequences for themselves, says Redmadrobot CEO Alexey Makin:
“If I, as a developer, officially registered in advance that I would provide this link, then Apple will issue an invoice within a month to return 27% back. So far it looks doubtful. Very few developers will follow these rules. Why should someone give them 27% in the case when people themselves will have to link the payment service. But what is Apple’s role here? Unclear”.
Apple plans to ban developers who do not share profits. However, the corporation relies more on the honest word of the application creators, Kommersant FM’s interlocutors note. According to them, market players must provide reports on transactions and pay commissions on them themselves. The company from Cupertino expects to control them manually, through the efforts of employees of the Russian division. And there are about 100 of them left per million utilities.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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