Not long ago, all Russians were denied access to Apple Pay. First, Visa and Mastercard stopped working entirely in Russia, then Apple canceled its contract with the National Payment Card System (NSPC), after which payments with the Mir card stopped working. The Russians have filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for Apple Pay, and suddenly word comes out that the EU is also unhappy with how Apple Pay works. The European Union is preparing to sue Apple in the near future for restricting third-party access to NFC or Apple Pay technology, sources said.
Court v. Apple
Just yesterday, the Financial Times reported an interesting piece of news: the European Union is preparing to sue Apple for violating antitrust laws to restrict third-party access to Apple Pay. This release was reported by 4 different sources directly related to the issue.
According to the publication, the EU believes that Apple is violating antitrust laws. The blame is that Apple restricts access to NFC technology thanks to our use of Apple Pay. After all, no company is able to make contactless payments through third-party apps.
While NFC cannot be used in apps, it is possible to pay for purchases over the Internet using third-party services. SberPay is a prominent example. Not long ago, Ivan Kuznetsov, author of AppleInsider.ru, already told you how to use SberPay on iPhone. I recommend reading it.
It has to be said that the case of iPhone NFC restrictions is not new. The EU impeached Apple for the first time back in 2020, but not as fast as expected. Apple, in turn, is protected by the fact that allowing the use of NFC in third-party apps severely compromises user privacy and security, which is in direct contradiction to the company’s policy.
The amount of fines they plan to collect in the EU was not disclosed, but is reported to be around 10% of global sales. In 2020, the Cupertino-based company had revenue of about $274.5 billion. It is estimated that about 10% of the fines are about $27 billion. Agree, is the crowd impressive?
Charges are expected to be filed next week (May 2-8). The EU declined to comment on the issue, as did Apple itself.
Similar to Apple Pay on iPhone
Agreed, lately you and I have gotten so used to paying for purchases with an iPhone that this happens we can’t remember the last time I took cash or used a card. After Russia shut down Apple Pay, payments became impossible. No, there is an option to show ingenuity and connect the card to the iPhone, but many people are not happy with the situation and switch to Samsung or Huawei.
For example, on Android smartphones, it has long been possible to change the default payment method. In Russia, you can install SberPay, Mir Pay and Samsung Pay instead of Google Pay. By the way, the latter still accepts Mir cards for payment. Foreign countries also have their own services – PayPal and Venmo, which have long wanted to have their own Apple Pay analogs.
Russian users could also benefit if the EU wins the case. Logically, Apple Pay would return, slightly modified, but still!
Allegations of non-compliance with antitrust laws are pouring into Apple from everywhere: Not long ago, Spotify sued Cupertinos for not allowing third-party music service providers to flourish. First, Spotify is always lower than Apple Music in App Store search results, and second, Swedes have to pay a 30% commission, which means third-party streamers are always more expensive than Apple originals.
