Apple Pay is attracting even more negative attention

Apple Pay is attracting even more negative attention

A lawsuit has been filed against Apple over the management of its popular mobile payment wallet, Apple Pay.

Filed by Affinity Credit Union on its behalf and on behalf of "all similarly-situated payment card issuers," the complaint (opens in a new tab) alleges that Apple is "coercing" iPhone users into adopting your own contactless payment solution.

"Apple's behavior harms not only issuers, but also consumers and competition as a whole," the document states.

Apple Pay in the spotlight

Unlike popular Android-based payment wallets like Google Pay and Samsung Pay, Apple charges card issuers a 0,15% fee for each credit card transaction and a 0,5 cent fee for each purchase. with credit card made through Apple Pay.

According to Affinity Credit Union, the company's reluctance to allow alternative wallets on its iOS platform causes thousands of banks and credit unions to pay more than $XNUMX billion in additional fees each year.

Furthermore, the plaintiff claimed that the lack of viable alternatives to Apple Pay on iOS ultimately discouraged product innovation, which also had adverse effects on end users.

“Because of Apple's exclusionary conduct, plaintiff and other issuers are paying and have paid costs that they would not have incurred in a competitive market. But that is not the extent of the damage, ”says the folder.

“If there were multiple iOS Tap and Pay mobile wallets, competing companies would have to innovate to differentiate their offerings, for example by improving transaction security. Consumers and issuers have been deprived of this innovation.

The case then asks for the cessation of the anticompetitive practices detailed in the lawsuit, as well as damages not yet specified.

However, the lawsuit is just the latest development in the debate over Apple's behavior in the industry. The EU, for example, is currently investigating whether Apple can be seen as having abused its dominant position in hardware and mobile operating systems to take unfair advantage of its position in payments.

If regulators reach that conclusion, Apple could be liable for 10% of its worldwide revenue, though the maximum penalty is unlikely.

TechRadar Pro has asked Apple to comment on the latest lawsuit.