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The EU did not ban Apple Pay or fine Apple. On July 11, 2024, the European Commission made Apple’s legally binding commitments final and closed its mobile-payments antitrust proceedings. For 10 years, eligible third-party wallet and payment providers must receive free access to the iPhone’s NFC functionality for in-store contactless payments across the European Economic Area (EEA), independently of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
That creates a route for rival wallets to compete on the iPhone—but it does not mean that every bank, app, or iPhone automatically supports an Apple Pay replacement.
What the EU’s Apple Pay decision changed
The case was AT.40452 – Apple – Mobile Payments. The Commission opened the investigation in 2020 and issued a Statement of Objections on May 2, 2022.
Its preliminary view was that Apple held a dominant position in mobile wallets on iOS and had abused that position by reserving access to the iPhone’s NFC functionality for Apple Pay. NFC, or Near-Field Communication, is the short-range technology that allows a phone to communicate with a contactless payment terminal when a customer taps the phone.
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Before the remedy, Apple Pay was the only iOS wallet with access to the relevant NFC input for in-store contactless payments. The Commission was concerned that this could exclude rival wallets and reduce consumer choice and innovation.
Apple did not accept the Commission’s preliminary legal assessment. Instead, it offered commitments. Under Article 9 of EU competition law, the Commission can make commitments binding and close a case without issuing a final finding that the company infringed antitrust rules.
That distinction matters: the EU did not formally find Apple guilty in this decision, and it did not impose a conventional antitrust fine.
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What Apple must provide
The commitments open a controlled alternative route to iPhone contactless payments. They require Apple to provide eligible third-party providers with:
- Free NFC access: qualifying wallets and payment-service providers can use the iPhone’s NFC functionality without relying on Apple Pay or Apple Wallet.
- An HCE-based solution: the technical route uses Host Card Emulation, which allows a payment app to conduct contactless transactions without using the device’s secure element in the same way Apple Pay does. HCE should not be understood as unrestricted or raw access to NFC hardware.
- Default-wallet choice: users must have a discoverable way in iOS settings to select and change their preferred NFC payment app.
- System integrations: eligible apps can use relevant functions such as Field Detect, the double-click shortcut, Face ID, Touch ID, and device passcode authentication.
- Fair access rules: Apple must apply fair, objective, transparent, and non-discriminatory eligibility criteria.
- Monitoring and dispute resolution: an independent monitoring and dispute process applies to access decisions.
Apple’s developer documentation says that users with an Apple Account registered in the EEA can set an eligible HCE payment app as their default payment app.
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Who is covered?
The remedy is geographically and technically limited.
- Geography: it applies across the EEA—the EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
- Users: the user must have an Apple Account or Apple ID registered in the EEA.
- Developers: the relevant third-party app developer must be established in the EEA and meet Apple’s eligibility and licensing requirements.
- Devices: the stated hardware scope begins with the iPhone XS and later, where the device can upgrade to the relevant iOS version.
- Duration: the commitments remain in force for 10 years.
Covered users can use relevant payment apps while temporarily traveling outside the EEA, according to the Commission’s description. That does not mean that every foreign merchant, bank, card, or wallet will work abroad.
A US-registered Apple Account should not be assumed to receive the same HCE and default-wallet options. Nor does a company’s global presence automatically establish that it meets the EEA developer requirement.
Can users replace Apple Pay today?
Potentially, but only if all the pieces are in place. The legal commitment gives providers a route to offer competing wallets. It does not automatically convert every banking app into an Apple Pay alternative.
A user generally needs:
- An iPhone XS or later with compatible iOS software.
- An Apple Account registered in the EEA.
- A participating wallet provider that has built the HCE integration and obtained the required entitlement.
- A supported bank, card, and payment network.
- Availability of the wallet in the user’s particular EEA country.
The Commission’s later staff documentation says that Vipps MobilePay launched the first alternative wallet under the commitments on December 9, 2024. That demonstrates that the remedy moved beyond a paper obligation, but it does not prove that Vipps MobilePay—or any other rival wallet—supports every EEA country, bank, card, or payment network.
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Consumers should check country availability, supported issuers and networks, default-app support, Face ID or passcode behavior, offline payment capability, refunds, disputes, privacy practices, rewards, and travel support before switching. Apple Pay can generally remain installed as a fallback.
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The main benefit is choice. An eligible bank or fintech may be able to offer its own branded contactless wallet rather than sending customers exclusively to Apple Pay.
Competition could focus on loyalty features, rewards, privacy policies, account integration, supported products, and the overall payment experience. But the Commission’s theory that Apple’s restriction could reduce competition is not a guarantee that consumers will receive lower fees, better rewards, or lower prices.
The decision does not:
- remove or weaken Apple Pay’s availability;
- make Google Pay or any named bank app automatically available on iPhone;
- require every bank to launch a competing wallet;
- require merchants to accept every wallet;
- guarantee support for every card or payment network;
- apply worldwide; or
- decide that Apple Pay’s security architecture was unsafe.
The remedy concerns in-store contactless payments. It should not be treated as a general ruling about Apple Pay in web checkout, in-app purchases, or every online payment restriction.
What banks and fintechs still have to do
Opening the NFC gate removes an important technical barrier, but it does not remove the ordinary work of running a payment wallet. A provider still needs to manage:
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- payment-token provisioning;
- card-network certification;
- relationships with banks and issuers;
- fraud monitoring and strong customer authentication;
- payment regulation and data protection;
- customer support, refunds, and disputes;
- device and iOS compatibility; and
- security obligations associated with HCE.
The commitments give providers access to iPhone NFC functionality. They do not automatically make a banking app a certified payment wallet, guarantee issuer participation, or eliminate the commercial cost of supporting another wallet ecosystem.
Apple still controls a structured access process
This is not unrestricted access to the iPhone’s payment stack. Developers must meet eligibility criteria, join the Apple Developer Program, accept the applicable licensing terms, and satisfy Apple’s technical and security requirements.
That creates a trade-off. Rival providers gain a way to offer a branded iPhone payment experience, but they remain dependent on Apple’s operating-system APIs, entitlement process, device support, and contractual framework.
A monitoring trustee was appointed to oversee compliance and report to the Commission. The commitments also include an independent dispute-settlement process for access decisions.
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Binding commitments are enforceable even though they are not the same as a final infringement decision. If Apple fails to comply, the Commission can enforce the commitments through the applicable legal process.
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The Commission said a breach can expose Apple to a fine of up to 10% of its total annual turnover. It also identified a possible periodic penalty payment of up to 5% of average daily turnover for each day of non-compliance.
The 10-year duration gives wallet providers a relatively long period in which to build products and customer relationships. It also gives regulators a mechanism to examine whether Apple is complying with the access, eligibility, and dispute-resolution requirements.
What happened to the rest of the case?
The July 11, 2024 action did not treat every Apple Pay concern as one inseparable issue. The Commission separately closed aspects involving online restrictions and alleged refusals to provide Apple Pay access for particular rival products.
Nor did the decision settle all EU disputes involving Apple. The Apple Pay action was an antitrust commitments decision under Article 9. The Digital Markets Act is a separate regulatory framework with separate obligations and investigations. The Commission has continued to examine other Apple platform practices under the DMA, including user-choice and app-distribution issues.
For that reason, “the EU settled Apple” is too broad. The more accurate description is that the Commission closed the Apple mobile-payments proceedings after making Apple’s NFC-access commitments legally binding.
Why the case matters
The decision addresses a broader platform-regulation question: what happens when a platform controls a strategically important hardware interface that competitors need to reach users?
Apple retains control over the iPhone operating system and security model, but it can no longer reserve the relevant in-store NFC route exclusively for its own wallet for the duration of the commitments. The EU’s approach was not to prohibit Apple Pay; it was to require an access route through which qualified rivals can compete.
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