According to BlockBeats, on July 12, the European Commission accepted Apple's commitment to open NFC functions and legalized it for a period of ten years. Previously, Apple was accused of abusing its market dominance by using NFC functions exclusively for Apple Pay. Apple has now opened NFC access to EU developers for free and allows other wallet applications to be set as the default payment application, removing the restriction that it is only available to licensed payment service providers.
The agreement centers on accessing NFC in host card emulation mode (HCE), with credentials stored in the bank’s private cloud rather than in the device’s secure element. The move helps address competition concerns and opens the door to a variety of payment methods, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
In particular, the European Central Bank (ECB) is developing an offline “swipe payment” feature for the digital euro, which requires access to the secure isolation area and NFC function of the mobile phone. Apple’s commitment will help promote the realization of this feature and accelerate the promotion and application of the digital euro.
