An antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of blocking tap-to-pay competition is moving forward and will see banks and credit unions band together to sue Apple.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White certified a class in the lawsuit this week. It will include all US entities that have issued Apple Pay-enabled payment cards and have paid Apple a fee for Apple Pay transactions on that payment card. It also denied a motion by Apple to exclude expert testimony that the plaintiff’s lawyers argue offers evidence that Apple has monopoly power over the mobile wallet market.
First filed in 2022, the lawsuit alleges that Apple illegally collects up to $1 billion a year in fees by blocking rivals from accessing the iPhone’s NFC chip to build mobile wallets that compete with Apple Pay. According to the lawsuit, when an iPhone user purchases something with a card linked to Apple Pay, the card issuer must pay Apple a fee of 0.15% for credit cards and half a cent for debit cards. If you make a $1,000 purchase through Apple Pay, Apple collects $1.50 from the card issuer.
The complaint alleges that Apple forces card issuers to pay fees by making Apple Pay the only tap-to-pay option. He’s referring 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 policies since the lawsuit was filed. Starting with iOS 18.1, developers can offer NFC contactless payments in their apps. 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 of fees paid by card issuers and injunctive relief to “put an end to Apple’s policies.”
