Apple Pay in the visor of the European Competition Commission

The apple firm could be the subject of a new antitrust investigation, this time concerning its mobile payment system.

Not spared by antitrust investigations in the United States, Apple is closely monitored on the Old Continent where the European Commission is closely studying its activities, especially those around its mobile payment system, Apple Pay. The EU institution is asking whether the US giant has breached competition law.

Apple would oppose competing for payment solutions, according to some e-commerce

In August, the European Commission, which deals with competition law in the EU, sent a questionnaire to retailers who offer the Apple Pay payment solution to their customers. In the latter, the institution asked online sales companies if they were encouraged to use the payment service of the Cupertino company for the benefit of other competing solutions.

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According to the Commission, some answers are clearly not in line with Apple's point of view. It would indeed have received, at the end of this investigation, information that the US giant could effectively impose restrictions on online payments for the purchase of goods or services. These restrictions would apply to both e-commerce sites and applications.

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Such actions would be contrary to European rules and would constitute a widespread antitrust practice aimed at weakening competition, especially since iPhone owners are already offered Apple Pay as the default payment solution, being natively included on the Internet. BONE.


Available since the end of 2014, Apple Pay is one of the many online payment solutions available to consumers and is available in around 50 countries, including around 20 in the European Union.

Although the Commission has not officially mentioned the opening of an investigation, its interest in the payment service of the firm leaves little room for doubt. The case could be added to the complaint filed in March by the music streaming giant, Spotify, which accuses Apple of taking advantage of its position as owner of the App Store and iOS to highlight its own service, Apple Music, to the detriment of others.

Source: Reuters