The days of the iPhone’s NFC capabilities being limited to just Apple Pay could be coming to an end. Apple is reportedly open to allowing other systems to use the wireless payment system.
It’s the company’s solution to European Union objections to the iPhone’s NFC limitation.
More than Apple Pay soon have access to payments via iPhone NFC
You can use an iPhone and Apple Pay to make a transaction at a store or restaurant point-of-sale machine. The connection between the two devices happens over NFC (Near Field Communications), and the “tap and go” process very convenient, especially as many shoppers and businesses move away from cash.
But don’t try that same trick with PayPal — Apple doesn’t allow it.
The EU formally objected to this policy in 2022, stating that it “stifled innovation and prevented competition in the mobile wallet market.”
And on Tuesday, Reuters reported, “Apple has offered to let rivals access its tap-and-go mobile payments systems used for mobile wallets, three people familiar with the matter said.”
The European Commission is allegedly weighing the offer, and will look for input from other makers of mobile wallets.
But this could be the end of the EU’s objections to Apple’s limits on NFC in the iPhone. And without the need for the EU to hit Cupertino with a big fine.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
