In Germany, a new law was adopted, thanks to which Apple will have to change the functionality of the NFC chip in iPhones operating on the market there. The change mainly concerns the Wallet application and NFC payments. Until now, these have (with a few exceptions) only been available for Apple Pay.
Thanks to the new law, Apple will have to release the possibility of contactless payments in its iPhones also to other payment applications, which will thus be allowed to compete with the Apple Pay payment system. From the beginning, Apple rejected the presence of NFC chips in iPhones, and only a few selected third-party applications received an exception, which, moreover, did not involve the use of an NFC chip for payment as such. Apple's position has been complained about since 2016 by several banking institutions around the world, who described the actions as anti-competitive and accused Apple of abusing its position to push its own payment method.
The new law does not explicitly mention Apple, but its wording makes it clear who it is aimed at. Apple representatives let it be known that they definitely do not like the news and that it will ultimately be harmful (however, it is not clear if this was meant in general or only with regard to Apple). The legislation as such can be somewhat problematic, as it was allegedly sewn with a "hot needle" and is not completely thought out with regard to the protection of personal data, user-friendliness and others.
It is expected that other European states could be inspired by the German innovation. In addition, the European Commission is actively working in this area, which is trying to come up with a solution that would not discriminate against other providers of payment systems. In the future, it may happen that Apple will only offer Apple Pay as one of the possible alternatives.
Source: 9to5mac
German and European comrades are once again pearling. Like buying an Apple but dying to use Google Pay? Well, I really don't know, but wouldn't I rather buy one of the many Android phones instead of Apple?
This is of course nonsense. Google allows other payment methods in its system, but most people do not want to use a custom solution from a bank. It can be seen even now in the Czech market, where people cry when their bank does not support Google pay and promotes its own solution. Simply using a native solution is always more convenient for the customer.
This is exactly the thing that the EU and not just Germany should push through.
Buy an android if you see openness as an advantage and kindly don't dictate to others what they should or shouldn't want.
If you desire such a regulation, then you have probably chosen the wrong product. It's like if you buy a Tesla because you like it and then try to enforce the law that you have to add gas to it, because other cars can run on gas.
To directly respond to the last comment that is here, or the first one, if it is ordered from the most recent, I, on the other hand, do not agree that anyone should push this. If I don't want to use Apple stuff, I won't buy iPhones and other devices. And I wouldn't use a bank app for anything.
"Several banking institutions have complained about Apple's attitude since 2016..." I wonder if users have also complained... IMHO, a pretty nice response from Apple would be the option to choose Apple Pay or a third party during the initial setup. If I wanted to use a third party, I would be banned from apple pay and vice versa. On the one hand, it would show what the customer wants (he would have the option to choose, just not both at once) and, on the other hand, I would be sure that no third party would potentially steal my data.
So you have the option to either buy an iPhone and proceed with it or not to buy it... although many things annoy me, you should know about all the limitations before buying. So yes, customers are showing what they want, and according to sales, this behavior is paying off for Apple in the long run. We have a choice and a lot of competition here. On the contrary, I am in favor of the EU forcing these things through laws. See, for example, the ballot screen and the like, that's terrible bullshit and the only purpose of that law was to get a nice knapsack out of the World Cup.