Apple reaches settlement with EU in mobile payment anti-trust case

According to TapTechNews on June 19, the latest FT report said that Apple has reached a settlement with the European Commission in the mobile payment anti-trust case. The report said that after the settlement, the European Union will end the long-term investigation of Apple's ApplePay and may require Apple to support ApplePay on the Android system.

The European Commission accused Apple in 2022 of restricting the use of NFC chips by other apps in tap-and-go payments, giving ApplePay an unfair advantage over other similar products in competition.

To avoid a fine of tens of billions of dollars, Apple decided to compromise, meaning that third-party developers can use NFC technology for free and enable developers to create contactless payment options independent of ApplePay or Wallet.

It is said that the relevant details are being finalized within Apple and will be officially announced the settlement in the coming weeks.

If Apple refuses to settle, then the European Union can fine according to 10% of the global annual turnover. Apple's revenue in 2023 is 383 billion US dollars. If calculated according to the 10% fine, it means that the company will receive a fine close to 40 billion US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 290.618 billion yuan).