The EU slapped Apple on Monday with anti-trust charges for abusing its dominant position in the mobile wallets market by restricting competition.
The 27-nation bloc's executive arm, the European Commission, said Apple had restricted competition in the mobile wallets market by limiting third-party access to key technology necessary to develop rival mobile wallet solutions on Apple's devices.
The iPhone manufacturer deliberately prevented app developers from gaining access to the hardware and software (near-field communication or “tap and go” technology) on its devices to benefit Apple Pay, the commission said.
Apple Pay, the California-based company’s mobile wallet solution on iPhones and iPads, enables mobile payments in physical stores and online channels.
“Mobile payments play a rapidly growing role in our digital economy. It is important for the integration of European payments markets that consumers benefit from a competitive and innovative payments landscape,” said Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s executive vice president and in charge of competition policy.
“We preliminarily found that Apple may have restricted competition, to the benefit of its own solution Apple Pay. If confirmed, such conduct would be illegal under our competition rules,” said Ms Vestager.
A mobile or digital wallet stores users’ credit and/or debit card information and links it to a payment gateway to allow purchases at a point of sale. Similar to credit cards, they only work at merchants that accept them as a payment method.
Google was the first major company to launch a mobile wallet in 2011. Today, consumers have a number of digital wallets to choose from, including Samsung Pay, PayPal and Apple Pay.
Consumer spending through digital wallets is expected to reach more than $10 trillion in 2025 — up from $5.5tn in 2020, a 2021 report by UK-based Juniper Research showed.
The commission said Apple's iPhones, iPads and software form a “closed ecosystem” and the company controls every aspect of the user experience.
“Apple Pay is the only mobile wallet solution that may access the necessary [near-field communication] input on iOS [Apple’s operating system] … [it] does not make it available to third-party app developers of mobile wallets,” the commission said.
“This has an exclusionary effect on competitors and leads to less innovation and less choice for consumers for mobile wallets on iPhones.”
If confirmed, Apple’s conduct would infringe on Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position.
The current charge sheet, known as a statement of objections, considered- only issues with access to near-field communication by third-party developers.
It does not take into account the “online restrictions nor the alleged refusals of access to Apple Pay for specific products of rivals” that the commission voiced concern with when it started an in-depth investigation into the matter in June 2020.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
SPECS
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
MATCH INFO
Schalke 0
Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')
Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)
TALE OF THE TAPE
Manny Pacquiao
Record: 59-6-2 (38 KOs)
Age: 38
Weight: 146lbs
Height: 166cm
Reach: 170cm
Jeff Horn
Record: 16-0-1 (11 KOs)
Age: 29
Weight: 146.2lbs
Height: 175cm
Reach: 173cm
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
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