A new antitrust class action lawsuit accuses Apple, Visa, and Mastercard of conspiring to stifle competition for point-of-sale payment card services. According to Reuters, this has resulted in merchants paying “artificially higher fees for credit and debit transactions.”
Apple “struck unlawful agreements” with Visa and Mastercard to “refrain from competing with the two credit card companies,” according to the lawsuit.” Visa and Mastercard “paid Apple a portion of transaction fees” for Apple Pay payments made on their respective networks as part of this agreement.
The lawsuit claims that by reaching this agreement, Visa and Mastercard are paying Apple a “huge and ongoing cash bribe.” This agreement effectively removes any incentive for Apple to invest in developing its payment network, which would increase competition and potentially result in lower credit and debit card processing fees for merchants.
The lawsuit also claims that Apple forbids third-party companies from using the iPhone’s NFC chip for contactless payment transactions. This means that Apple Pay is the iPhone’s only mobile wallet platform.
In response to ongoing antitrust investigations in the European Union, it was reported earlier this week that Apple has offered to open up the Apple Pay NFC system on iPhone to other companies. Whether this occurs and changes are implemented in the United States remains to be seen.