Apple opens NFC technology access, dodges EU antitrust scrutiny

 The European Commission legally bound Apple to commitments on Thursday (11 July), addressing previous competition concerns over its refusal to grant rivals access to NFC technology for contactless payments.

Since the Commission decided to legally bind Apple in these commitments, which would open this ecosystem to competitors, the company is dodging further antitrust scrutiny in this field for now.

The case concerns Near-Field Communication (NFC), the technology used for most smartphone payments. Apple devices use Apple Pay for NFC payments by default.

This gives Apple a dominant position in the mobile wallet market on iOS.

The Commission preliminarily found an abuse of dominant position in an Apple Pay antitrust case, as Apple did not allow third-party developers to access NFC components, reserving such access exclusively for Apple Pay. (...)