Internet payments are already our day to day. Thanks to the techniques, services and platforms created for this, acquiring a product from anywhere in the world is a piece of cake. In the case of the Big Apple, we have Apple Pay, Apple's payment service, with which we can add our cards (depending on compatibility) and be able to pay just by unlocking our terminal. However the chif NFC that gives exclusivity to Apple Pay on iPhone could be opened to third parties thanks to a German law whose validity could begin in January 2020. Exact: being able to pay with iPhone, but without Apple Pay it could be possible.
The NFC chip and Apple: "We are concerned about [its opening]"
The German parliament began its session in the ordinary way last Wednesday. In the prayer of the day was the revision of a new law against money laundering. However, an amendment was tabled to include a part "obliging e-money infrastructure operators to offer access to competing alternatives for a reasonable fee." That is electronic money companies they will have to allow other platforms to be used on their systems.
If we port this to the Apple Pay payment system, those of Cupertino could be seen forced to open the NFC chip of their iPhone and Apple Watch in order to open iOS 13 to other payment platforms such as Samsung Pay or Google Pay to a reasonable price. Although this law has to pass the endorsement of another German chamber, there are many possibilities that it will go ahead and its validity could begin on January 1, 2020, so there are curves for Apple unless they can stop this incessant desire to be able to open their NFC chips on their terminals.
We are surprised by how suddenly this legislation was introduced. We fear that the bill could be detrimental to the usability, data protection and security of financial information.
From Apple they assure that they will work closely with the German state and the European Union to make them see the importance of Apple Pay data protection. So we'll see how this will end.