UK regulator proposes broader iPhone access for contactless payment rivals
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The Facts
- The Competition and Markets Authority is consulting on changes to Apple’s iPhone contactless technology access rules.
- The proposals would require easier access to iPhone near-field communication technology for competing services.
- The CMA expects its proposals to result in substantially lower access fees for competing providers.
- The CMA says Apple’s current fees, terms and technical restrictions can impede fintech firms’ ability to compete.
- The CMA says broader access could enable new payment, ticketing, travel and digital-wallet products.
- Apple says the proposed approach could provide lower privacy and security protections.
- The CMA will accept views on the proposals until November 17 before making a final decision.
Context
What technology is at issue?
The proposals concern near-field communication, or NFC, the iPhone technology used for contactless transactions when a device is held near a payment terminal. gov.uk ITV Hub
Who could be affected by the proposed changes?
Digital banks, fintech firms and other developers could gain more workable access to iPhone contactless functions, potentially allowing them to offer alternatives to Apple Pay and other digital services. Reuters BBC Deseret News
How common are contactless payments in the UK?
Contactless payments accounted for 39% of UK payments in 2025, according to the CMA. TokenPost Morningstar London South East
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Apple's fees, terms and technical restrictions on NFC access are a real constraint that shapes who can compete in payments, and Apple's privacy claim must be reckoned with, not dismissed.
- Where Left and Right split
- The left and the right split on who must prove their case first: Apple's gatekeeping or the CMA's mandate.
How left and right read it
Who sets the toll on a phone's contactless chip is a question of power, not engineering, because the fees, terms and technical restrictions the CMA identifies can keep smaller fintech competitors from competing at all. That is why substantially lower access fees matter. Apple warns of weaker privacy and security protections. But a gatekeeper invoking safety should have to demonstrate it: what, concretely, cannot be protected under open access?
A firm that builds a product should set the terms on which others plug into it, and the burden sits with regulators to prove otherwise before rewriting those terms by decree. Yet the CMA is consulting on mandated access and engineered fee cuts, while Apple warns the approach could mean weaker privacy and security protections. Price and access belong to competition, not to a crackdown.
“Apple will be forced to open up its contactless payment system to rivals under a UK crackdown.” — The Telegraph
The chip's access fees decide who can compete in payments. The real fight is who must justify their rules first.
The receipts — 48 sources
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Independent coverage (44)
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