The European Union today shared an antitrust communication contesting the way in which Apple limits the NFC technology on iPhone to your payment platform, Apple Pay. A Bloomberg report reveals that PayPal in particular is one of the companies that backed EU antitrust complaints against Apple Pay.
Apple Pay in the crosshairs of the EU antitrust
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report in question claims that PayPal contributed to the issuance of a formal antitrust complaint against Apple and Apple Pay against the European Commission. PayPal, which offers an NFC-based feature for Android users, cannot offer the same option on the iPhone, as we all know.
That said, Bloomberg also said PayPal was just one of multiple companies that filed formal complaints about this situation with the European Commission. iPhone 6 was the first Apple smartphone to feature NFC technology, which allows data to be transmitted between two devices when they are very close to each other.
However, NFC technology on the iPhone is unique to Apple Pay, the company’s platform that allows users to register their credit and debit cards to pay in stores using their phone or Apple Watch. Earlier this year, Apple announced the “Tap to Pay” feature for iPhone, which turns the phone into a contactless card terminal for receiving payments via third-party apps. However, the company still does not allow other apps to provide their own NFC payment solutions on the iPhone.