Apple Gives Third Parties Access to Tap-and-Go Payments Tech

Apple says it is giving developers access to its near-field communication (NFC) technology.

“Starting with iOS 18.1, developers will be able to offer NFC contactless transactions using the Secure Element from within their own apps on iPhone, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet,” the tech giant said Wednesday (Aug. 14).

“Using the new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs, developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets, with government IDs to be supported in the future,” Apple added.

The move comes in the wake of an agreement between Apple and the European Commission (EC) to allow access to the technology on iPhones.

The EC, which is the executive arm of the EU, had charged Apple with competition law violations in 2022, alleging that the iPhone maker had prevented competitors from accessing the technology that enables tap-and-go payments. Apple in June said it would open its payments tech to third parties, thus avoiding a fine by the commission.

“From now on, competitors will be able to effectively compete with Apple Pay for mobile payments with the iPhone in shops,” said Margrethe Vestager, vice president in charge of competition policy for the EU. “So consumers will have a wider range of safe and innovative mobile wallets to choose from.”

As PYMNTS wrote in May, NFC technology “has become a flashpoint in the jousting between Big Tech and regulators in the United States” as well, with a September report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) underlining Apple’s NFC chip policies.

The regulator wrote in its report that increasing access to the technology “could incentivize all of the providers to innovate, to develop new features and services that would keep their customers from switching.”

Those providers could include banks, retailers and established payment app providers, all of whom have an incentive to create tap-to-pay apps for Apple devices, the CFPB said.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS explored the growth in contactless payments last week through the lens of the Paris Olympics, noting that the games served as a powerful platform to demonstrate digital payments technology’s potential.

“Hosting the Games requires seamless, efficient transactions for millions of visitors, vendors and organizers, and this necessity has driven payment providers to develop and showcase cutting-edge solutions, often setting trends that ripple out into the wider world,” that report said.