Apple's Olive Branch: Sharing Tap-and-Go Tech Amid Antitrust Grilling

<p>In a strategic gambit, Apple opens its tap-and-go payment doors to
rivals, seeking an amicable resolution to EU antitrust woes and sidestepping
potential billion-dollar fines.</p><p>Opening Up Payment Tech</p><p>According to reporting from AP, Apple, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/apple/" target="_blank" rel="follow">a tech behemoth</a> that typically
plays hard to get, unexpectedly proposed to allow third-party mobile wallet and
payment service providers access to the contactless payment function on its iOS
operating system. This move, presented as an answer to EU antitrust
accusations, is perhaps a temporary truce in an ongoing battle for dominance
when it comes to all sorts of Apple-related <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/p/payments/">payments</a>. As Brussels contemplates
the offer, will Apple's offering be enough to appease the regulatory gods and
dodge the looming financial guillotine?</p><blockquote><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Apple is seeking to settle the EU’s antitrust probe into its tap-to-pay tech, with a 10-year offer to allow third-party mobile wallets to access its closely guarded payments chip on iPhones <a href="https://t.co/tbcsENLezP">https://t.co/tbcsENLezP</a></p>— Bloomberg (@business) <a href="https://twitter.com/business/status/1748299032852639932?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2024</a></blockquote><p>Tech Diplomacy: Apple's Gesture Amid Antitrust Squabbles</p><p>In a regulatory poker game, Apple has tossed its tap-and-go cards onto
the table, signaling a willingness to negotiate with EU antitrust enforcers.
The proposition? Opening the once-exclusive access to its contactless payment
function, a move that might spell peace in the tech battleground. As the EU
collects feedback from interested parties, Apple has played a diplomatic card,
attempting to avert the impending financial tempest. Breaches
of EU competition law can result in fines of up to 10% of a company's annual
global revenue, which in this case, could amount to tens of billions.</p><p>A Step Further?</p><p>Apple <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/eu-commission-seeks-feedback-apple-offer-let-rivals-access-tap-and-go-tech-2024-01-19/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">also said that through “ongoing discussions”</a> with the EU, it
would provide developers of payment, banking and <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/d/digital-wallet/">digital wallet</a> apps with an
option for their users to “make NFC contactless payments from within their iOS
apps, separate from <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/apple-pay/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Apple Pay</a> and Apple Wallet.”</p>

This article was written by Louis Parks at www.financemagnates.com.