Brussels, December 5 he Hague news: Apple has “surre up again and again” in the European market. Following the announcement of an antitrust investigation against Apple Pay in June this year by the European Union, the Netherlands also announced an antitrust investigation against mobile payment on the 4th. Although it has not been “named”, it is speared. Point your head to Apple Pay.
According to an announcement released by the Dutch Consumer and Markets Authority on the same day, the investigation will focus on near-field communication technology (NFC), which is widely used for mobile payment and even mobile payment.
It is suspected that some smartphones exclude other payment programs and only allow their own payment programs to connect to near-field communication technology, so that it “may kill expenses. Innovation of payment procedures reduces the independent choice of consumers and enterprises.
The announcement said that the Dutch Consumer and Market Authority found clues in a market study and decided to conduct further investigation. If it is confirmed that the above practice does reduce the independent choice of mobile phone users, the enterprises involved will be punished, such as fines. Conversely, if no one violates the regulations, the investigation will be terminated.
The announcement did not disclose the fine standards or inform which enterprises were listed as the subject of the investigation. However, after the investigation came out on the 4th, public opinion all said that since the European Union had announced an anti-monopoly investigation against Apple Pay in June this year, the target of the Dutch investigation actually targeted Apple Pay.
Similar to the suspicions of the Dutch Consumer and Markets Authority, the EU currently has preliminary investigation that for Apple mobile devices implanted near-field communication technology, because users can only use Apple Pay for induction payments, Apple Pay “may distort competition and reduce choices and innovations”, and Apple may It also restricts users from using Apple Pay to buy specific products of competitors.
Later on the 4th, Apple said that it would not comment on the antitrust investigation launched by the Netherlands, only saying that the original design of Apple Pay was to provide a simple and secure payment method for Apple users to choose from. Now “Apple Pay is competing every day” and hopes to cooperate with banks, merchants and financial technology companies. “Become the best payment option for consumers and businesses across the Netherlands.”
