According to Reuters, Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California partially rejected Apple's request to dismiss a federal class action lawsuit related to Apple Pay. Three credit unions argued that Apple violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by charging exorbitant fees and by denying other digital wallets access to its NFC scanning hardware.
access:
Apple Online Store (China)
The judge agreed with the credit union that because QR code payment apps like Venmo lack the convenience and functionality of Apple Pay and the cost of switching to Android is too high, peer-to-peer payments on iOS are a market unto themselves. Apple is the only player in a certain market. If it were not for the small details of the NFC reader, there would be other competitors in the market, so the lawyer believes that Apple is a monopoly.
Lawyers representing the credit union also claimed that Apple Pay is "unlawfully bundled" with Apple phones, tablets and watches. Judge White also sided with Apple's argument that Apple Pay is free and the company won't force people to use it, so Apple's claims don't stand. But overall, the judge wrote that Apple's monopoly argument was "credible."
He agreed that the company charges "arbitrary and exaggerated fees" for payment processing and wrote that the lack of competition in the iOS digital payments market is harmful to consumers. To Judge White, the inability of third-party applications to access NFC sounds anti-competitive. In its preliminary ruling in 2022, the European Union considered Apple Pay anti-competitive, also based on Apple's exclusive use of iPhone NFC readers.
The trial between Apple and the three credit unions will resume at 11 a.m. on December 1, Beijing time.