EU antitrust authorities want more information on Apple Pay

The European Commission’s antitrust regulators are gathering more information on Apple’s mobile payment system, suggesting that they are looking to strengthen their case against the company. Last year, the EU competition watchdog accused Apple of restricting rivals’ access to its Near-Field Communication (NFC) tap-and-go technology for mobile wallets, making it challenging for them to develop competing services on Apple devices. While declining to provide specifics, a commission spokesperson confirmed that requests for information had been sent. Apple declined to comment. Despite Apple pointing to PayPal’s success on its iOS mobile operating system and competition from other rivals, the Norwegian mobile payment app Vipps, which has filed a complaint, claims that alternatives to NFC are inconvenient and uncompetitive. The commission’s request for information is unusual, coming three months after Apple defended itself at a hearing in February, and it can impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s global turnover if found guilty of antitrust breaches.