An antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of blocking tap-to-pay competition is underway and will allow banks and credit unions to band together to sue Apple.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White this week certified a class in the lawsuit. This will include all U.S. entities that have issued an Apple Pay-enabled payment card and paid Apple a fee for Apple Pay transactions on that payment card. It also denied a motion by Apple to exclude expert testimony that plaintiffs’ lawyers say proves Apple has monopoly power in the mobile wallet market.
First filed in 2022, the complaint claims Apple illegally collects up to $1 billion a year in fees by preventing competitors from accessing the iPhone’s NFC chip to create mobile wallets that would compete with “Apple Pay.” When an iPhone user buys something with a card linked to Apple Pay, the card issuer must pay Apple a fee of 0.15 percent for credit cards and half a cent for debit cards, according to the lawsuit. If you make a $1,000 purchase through Apple Pay, Apple collects $1.50 from the card issuer.
The complaint alleges that Apple is forcing card issuers to pay fees by making Apple Pay the only contactless payment option. It points to Google’s Android, which supports multiple wallets and doesn’t collect fees from card issuers for contactless payments. This suggests that Apple would not be able to continue charging “substantial fees” if it were forced to support other mobile wallets on Apple devices.
Apple has changed its policy since the complaint was filed. Since iOS 18.1, developers can offer NFC contactless payments in their applications. Developers have access to the NFC chip in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area and many other countries.
The lawyers are seeking reimbursement for fees paid by card issuers and an injunction to “end Apple’s policies.”
