EU Apple Pay Probe Moves Forward

Apple’s antitrust woes are continuing to pile up as the EU’s competition commissioner says the bloc will press on with a probe into Apple Pay, reported Bloomberg.

While Apple’s attention turned to a California court clash with Epic Games, Europe’s top antitrust enforcer issued a reminder that the tech giant’s legal battles across the Atlantic are also heating up. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager warned that a probe into the company’s Apple Pay product is moving ahead on top of an investigation — escalated last month — into how the iPhone maker requires software developers to use its in-app purchasing system.

In an interview, Vestager said that the Apple Pay investigation was “quite advanced” and “something that we’re pushing forward.”

The EU has announced a formal investigation into possible antitrust practices carried out by Apple, with regards to both Apple Pay and the App Store.

In a press release the European Commission stated: The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Apple’s conduct in connection with Apple Pay violates EU competition rules. The investigation concerns Apple’s terms, conditions and other measures for integrating Apple Pay in merchant apps and websites on iPhones and iPads, Apple’s limitation of access to the Near Field Communication (NFC) functionality (“tap and go”) on iPhones for payments in stores, and alleged refusals of access to Apple Pay.

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