The European Union has, today, announced an antitrust investigation into Apple's practices over Apple Pay.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: "Mobile payment solutions are rapidly gaining acceptance among users of mobile devices, facilitating payments both online and in physical stores. This growth is accelerated by the coronavirus crisis, with increasing online payments and contactless payments in stores. It appears that Apple sets the conditions on how Apple Pay should be used in merchants' apps and websites. It also reserves the “tap and go” functionality of iPhones to Apple Pay. It is important that Apple's measures do not deny consumers the benefits of new payment technologies, including better choice, quality, innovation and competitive prices. I have therefore decided to take a close look at Apple's practices regarding Apple Pay and their impact on competition."

In parallel, today the Commission has opened also formal antitrust investigations to assess whether Apple's rules for app developers on the distribution of apps via the App Store violate EU competition rules.

Antitrust: Commission opens investigation into Apple practices regarding Apple Pay [ec.europa.eu]

App Sore Rules Antitrust: Commission opens investigations into Apple's App Store rules [ec.europa.eu]