LONDON — EU antitrust regulators on Thursday apple It opened up its tap-and-go payment technology to competitors, bringing an end to a four-year investigation.
“The Commission has decided to accept the commitments put forward by Apple, which address our initial concerns that Apple may have unlawfully restricted competition with regard to its mobile wallet on the iPhone,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said at a news conference.
The EU formally opened an antitrust investigation into Apple Pay in 2020. The investigation looked into the terms of use that Apple set for integrating Apple Pay into apps and websites, as well as concerns about the tap-and-go technology and alleged denials of access to Apple Pay.
In 2022, the European Commission ruled that the move could limit competition by making Apple Pay the only option for iPhone users. Apple subsequently proposed several commitments to address the concerns, and in January offered to give competitors access to its contactless payment and mobile wallet technology.
Vestager said the Commission market-tested Apple’s pledge in January and February to gather feedback on the proposal and then evaluate it.
The committee said Apple’s final commitments address concerns about the company limiting third-party access to its tap-and-go payment technology, and concluded the changes are legally binding on Apple.
Apple did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
This news bulletin is being updated.