Apple Pay Faces Swiss Antitrust Investigation Over NFC Access - MacRumors
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Apple Pay Faces Swiss Antitrust Investigation Over NFC Access

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Switzerland's competition authority has launched a preliminary investigation into whether Apple's terms for granting third-party access to NFC technology on iPhones violate its antitrust laws.

apple card via apple pay
The Secretariat of the Swiss Competition Commission opened the probe on December 10 to examine whether rival mobile payment apps can compete fairly with Apple Pay for contactless payments in stores.

Android devices freely allow third-parties to use NFC technology, but Apple only began allowing Swiss app developers to access its NFC interface in late 2024. The regulator is looking into whether the conditions differ from those Apple separately agreed to in the EU last year.

After pressure from the European Commission, Apple agreed in July 2024 to open NFC access across the European Union, of which Switzerland is not a member.

Switzerland's competition watchdog has been engaged in discussions with Apple since that time. The COMCO investigation is now gathering information from market participants to decide if Apple's Swiss-specific terms do in fact comply with local competition law.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tags: Apple Antitrust, Apple Pay, NFC, Switzerland
Related Forum: Apple Music, Apple Pay/Card, iCloud, Fitness+

Top Rated Comments

Hajj.david Avatar
Hajj.david
17 weeks ago
I actually dont like this. What seems good "oh wow more choice" ends up being "You need to download our app to use our credit card nfc and get specialized ads!". Very very quickly.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
suisse
17 weeks ago

Let's go Swiss!
i‘m here 😂
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
retroneo
17 weeks ago

I do not get how this can help consumers more than this is done already. By Apple.
You are paying a commission to Apple every transaction with Apple Pay. Direct NFC avoids that, allowing competition.


Last time I checked, that NFC hardware is not mine
Some people feel that the NFC hardware they paid for might at least be a little bit theirs.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diego.caraballo Avatar
diego.caraballo
17 weeks ago

You are paying a commission to Apple every transaction with Apple Pay. Direct NFC avoids that, allowing competition.
The empty promise of paying less is getting old. Fornite developer sued Apple and Google with the same promise, and here we are now paying exactly the same. But Fornite is earning more.

So it’s never about customers getting benefits. It’s about corporations getting even more profits at expense of your privacy.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
17 weeks ago

Malicious compliance is the only way Apple has to protect their assets from these overreaching laws.
It’s nice to see folks admitting they are actually doing malicious compliance.

Many who defend Apple claim they are not.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
gco212
17 weeks ago

Maybe you’re in a pilot. Ads in the settings app?
Apple advertises its own products in the settings app by pushing free trials of Apple Arcade and Music, among other products.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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