Apple sued over alleged “anti-competitive” Apple Pay practices

Tech giant Apple is being sued in the US over alleged anti-trust violations relating to its Apple Pay mobile wallet.

Apple faces lawsuit over alleged anti-competitive practices

According to Reuters, plaintiff Affinity Credit Union says Apple’s “anti-competitive” behaviour forces 4,000 banks and credit unions that use Apple Pay to fork out at least $1 billion worth of excess fees a year.

The class action lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of the Northern District of California and alleges Apple “coerces” consumers who use its devices into using Apple Pay for contactless payments.

This is in contrast to manufacturers of devices that use Google’s Android operating system, which provide options for users over which wallet they wish to use.

According to the complaint: “Apple’s conduct harms not only issuers, but also consumers and competition as a whole.”

In May, the European Commission notified Apple over the company’s anti-competitive decision to limit mobile wallet app developers’ access to its contactless payments hardware and software.

The Commission said that by limiting access to the “standard technology” of near-field communication (NFC), Apple has restricted competition in the mobile wallets market on its mobile operating system iOS.