Apple Increases Lobbying Spending as it Focuses on Mobile Payments

Apple pay app

Apple’s lobbying report shows some heavy petitioning Washington during the first three months of the calendar year, Bloomberg has uncovered.

The company has spent $1.24 million, up 16% compared to the same period the previous year, when a similar report showed ‘only’ $1.07 million. This year Apple has focused on issues related to mobile payments, taxation and consumer privacy, among others.

Mobile payments are highly important for Apple in the light of its Apple Pay platform, which only launched last October, but has seen an unexpectedly high growth curve, even though it was limited to the US and to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners.

You may recall that, earlier this year, Tim Cook announced another major step for Apple Pay: it will be enabled for users of federal-payment cards, such as Social Security and veterans’ benefits that are paid out via debit cards.

Looking back to 2014, the report reveals that Apple’s total spending on lobbying has hit another record: $4.1 million. But that’s still way below some other tech companies. By comparison, Google has spent much more: $5.47 million during the first quarter of 2015 alone.

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