Regulators around the world are questioning whether Apple has the right to charge for access to popular platforms built on the iPhone. Apple keeps saying yes to them – this time in Brazil.
The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) in Brazil is pursuing Apple over antitrust claims surrounding the App Store. This resulted in alternative app stores and external payment methods coming to Brazil, but now Apple’s NFC rules are under fire.
According to a report from About Globofirst shared by user 9 to 5 MacApple says third parties such as banks and payment service providers want “free” access to Apple’s proprietary technologies. In this case, Apple is referring to the NFC payment platform offered by the iPhone.
Services like Pix are moving from QR code payments (Think of CurrentC) to NFC payments. Google has already allowed this technology to be adopted on Android smartphones, but it has not yet reached the iPhone.
The reason — Apple charges payment processors and banks for NFC access per transaction. CADE and various banks in Brazil say this is an anti-competitive move by Apple.
Apple’s response to the antitrust allegations was a familiar, if justified, refrain. The company claims that Apple Pay is not only safer and more convenient, but more than 40 banks and issuers have accepted it in Brazil in 2018.
However, the iPhone only represents a 10% market share in Brazil. So while Apple Pay is easy to accept and use, it is by far a minority payment platform.
Apple sees this as an argument against classifying Apple Pay and its NFC fees as anti-competitive. Apple also says that Pix is an inferior platform for users.
“Additionally, these companies are interested in promoting an NFC access model that, unlike Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, introduces frictions that may limit users’ willingness to easily switch between different payment cards by requiring them to choose a new payment solution each time they want to use a different card.”
The issue isn’t whether Pix is allowed to use the iPhone’s NFC. Apple introduced a feature in iOS 18 that allows third parties to access the technology.
The problem is that Pix doesn’t want to pay for access.
While I can’t speak for Brazil or its regulators, Apple has won similar cases involving the App Store and other services in the past. Regulators have argued time and time again that Apple deserves payment for access to its ecosystem and platform.
It remains to be seen how the Brazilian regulator will decide on the NFC approach.