Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC) will open up iPhones to any mobile wallets that owners want to use for contactless payments, as part of an agreement with European Union regulators.
The US tech giant had previously refused to grant rivals access to standard near-field-communication technology for contactless payments on its devices.
Apple has conceded to allowing iPhone owners in the EU to be free to choose any mobile wallet from the start of August, the European Commission said today in a statement.
The EC, which is the executive arm of the EU, had launched an antitrust investigation into Apple for denying developers access to NFC technology, which is a standard tech that the company did not develop itself and is free for developers.
Apple agreed to not charge developers fees to provide the NFC functionality on its devices.
"The commission has decided to accept commitments offered by Apple,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said during a press conference. "These commitments address our preliminary concerns that Apple may illegally have restricted competition when it comes to mobile wallets on iPhones.
"The commitments bring important changes to how Apple operates in Europe to the benefit of competitors and customers."
She added: "From now on, Apple can no longer use its control over the iPhone ecosystem to keep other mobile wallets out of the market. Competing wallet developers, as well as consumers, will benefit from these changes, opening up innovation and choice, while keeping payments secure."
Apple said in a statement that developers in the European Economic Area will now have the option to enable NFC contactless payments and contactless transactions for car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty/rewards, event tickets from within their iOS apps.