Tech Brief: E.U. Officially Rules Apple Pay as Anticompetitive

In what's a fresh regulatory roadblock for Apple, the European Commission today ruled that the company has abused its dominance in mobile payments by limiting competitors' access to the NFC chips in iPhones. "By limiting access to a standard technology used for contactless payments with mobile devices in stores ('Near-Field Communication (NFC)' or 'tap and go'), Apple restricts competition in the mobile wallets market on iOS," the commission said in its preliminary ruling. It's worth noting that Apple Pay is the only mobile wallet solution that can make use of NFC on iOS to facilitate mobile payments, effectively cutting off third-party app developers of mobile wallets. "Apple's dominant position in the market for mobile wallets on its operating system iOS, restricts competition, by reserving access to NFC technology to Apple Pay," the watchdog added.