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Faced with years of pressure from regulators in the European Union and elsewhere, Apple has finally bowed and made unprecedented concessions in the field of near-field communication (NFC) payments, giving Apple Pay competitors the opportunity to share the iPhone's Tap to Pay business.

On Wednesday, August 14, Eastern Time, Apple announced that starting with the new operating system iOS 18.1, developers will be able to use the secure element (SE) in the iPhone to provide NFC contactless data exchange capabilities in iPhone applications developed by developers themselves, without going through Apple's payment and wallet Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. To use these new features in the app, users can open the app directly, or set the app as default support in iOS settings, and then double-click the iPhone side button to initiate a transaction.

Apple said that through the new NFC and SE APIs, developers will be able to provide contactless data exchange within the App, which can be used for closed-loop public transportation, corporate badges, student ID cards, home keys, hotel keys, merchant points and rewards cards, and even event tickets, etc., and will also support identity documents in the future. These APIs will first be provided to developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States through the upcoming iOS 18.1 developer resources, and will be launched in more regions in the future.

At the same time, Apple pointed out that if developers want to include the new contactless data exchange function in iPhone App, they need to sign a business agreement with Apple, apply for and obtain NFC and SE authorization, and pay relevant fees. This will ensure that developers meet specific industry and regulatory requirements and comply with Apple's security and privacy standards.

The above Apple announcement means that Apple will begin to allow third parties to use the iPhone's payment chip to process transactions, which is equivalent to allowing banks and other service providers to compete with the Apple Pay platform. Some media said that so far, only Apple Pay and Apple Wallet can use many functions of the iPhone's NFC chip, and this "exclusive" advantage will change with the launch of iOS 18.1.

Some media also mentioned that the opening of NFC payment is the result of years of pressure from regulators in the European Union and other places. Wall Street News noted that Apple made a series of concessions under the EU's antitrust pressure earlier this year.

In January this year, Apple announced a series of historic and major reforms to its iOS, Safari and App Store products in the European Union. The reforms will allow customers to download software from outside the Apple App Store for the first time. People will also be able to use other payment systems and more easily choose new default web browsers.

On July 11, the European Commission announced a settlement with Apple in the antitrust investigation into mobile payments. Apple decided to allow third-party mobile wallets and payment services to use the technology behind the Apple Pay App, and promised to open up mobile payment functions based on NFC technology to competitors for free. The relevant commitment will last for ten years and apply to the entire European Economic Area. This means that Apple will open up payments to third parties for the first time in history.

Last Thursday, Apple announced that it would make major updates to its App Store policies in order to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act, allowing European developers to promote and sell products outside the Apple ecosystem, no longer limited to Apple's App Store. The new rules will take effect this fall.