Apple Pay Hit with New Antitrust Probe in Switzerland

Apple Pay is facing fresh regulatory heat in Europe, as Switzerland’s competition authority has opened a preliminary antitrust investigation into the service’s NFC access rules on iPhone. As reported by MacRumors, the Secretariat of the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) launched the probe on December 10 to determine whether Apple’s terms for third-party access to the iPhone’s NFC interface violate the country’s competition laws.

While Android devices have long allowed payment apps to freely use NFC for tap-to-pay transactions, Apple historically restricted access to Apple Pay alone. That began to change last year: with iOS 18.1, Apple opened up NFC access and tap-to-pay functionality to third-party mobile wallets and other apps, following a years-long antitrust battle with the European Commission. Apple ultimately settled the EU case in mid-2024, agreeing to allow rival wallets to use the same “tap-and-go” features as Apple Pay across the bloc.

Switzerland, however, is not part of the EU. Although Apple began granting NFC access to Swiss app developers in late 2024, COMCO is now examining whether those terms mirror what Apple agreed to in the EU — or if they impose additional restrictions that could stifle competition in the local mobile payments market.

The regulator is currently gathering input from market participants to determine whether a full investigation is warranted.

Opening up the NFC interface quickly led to new Apple Pay alternatives abroad. Norway-based Vipps’ MobilePay became the first third-party wallet to take advantage of the new entitlement on iPhone late last year, with more following

Canada briefly considered pursuing a similar path. Last July, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne (serving as Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry at the time) suggested the Competition Bureau should investigate whether Apple Pay’s NFC policies were anticompetitive, although the idea never materialized into a formal probe.

Apple Pay just recently marked its 11-year anniversary in October, expanding into new markets and adding deeper integration with iOS.

With Switzerland now pushing for clarity around NFC access, Apple could once again find itself navigating regulatory scrutiny over how open its payments ecosystem truly is.