UK CMA Proposes Opening iPhone NFC to Rival Wallets

Six months after Apple agreed to let other apps use the iPhone’s contactless chip for payments in the European Union, the Norwegian wallet Vipps had launched an alternative to Apple Pay, and PayPal, Klarna, Curve and BBVA followed. In Britain, by the regulator’s own count, “not a single firm has launched a wallet-type product to compete with Apple’s”.

The Competition and Markets Authority now wants to change that. On Tuesday it published proposals that would require Apple to open the iPhone’s near field communication (NFC) technology to rival wallets and other apps through both of the main international standards, on terms it expects to be “substantially lower than Apple’s current fees”. It is a proposal, not a ruling: the consultation runs until 17 November, and the CMA will decide after weighing responses.

The CMA wants two standards and cheaper access

Contactless is a big business to be locked out of. The CMA, citing UK Finance, says contactless now accounts for 39% of all UK payments, against 3% a decade ago, and it cites a Which? survey finding that 62% of UK adults use a digital wallet, with Apple Wallet the most popular.

Apple already sells NFC access in the UK, but only through the secure element (SE), a chip that stores credentials on the phone. The proposal would make it also offer host-based card emulation (HCE), which keeps the data off the device. “Apple currently only offers SE in the UK,” the CMA notes, adding that evidence it has seen “suggests that neither technology raises inherent security concerns”.

Price is the second lever. The CMA says it “is not proposing to set the price”, but has set out principles for how fees should be worked out, with charges expected to be far lower than today while “still fairly rewarding Apple”. Payments are the first target, but the regulator also lists digital IDs and age checks, car, hotel and office keys, travel passes and loyalty schemes as uses that would open up.

“We have heard that high fees, strict terms, and technical restrictions relating to Apple’s contactless technology make it too difficult for challengers to innovate and compete,” said Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive. “These proposals open the door to more innovation, more choice and economic growth, including in the UK’s important fintech sector.”

The Financial Conduct Authority backed the move. “Improved access and substantially lower fees should create greater competition and more choice for consumers and businesses,” said David Geale, its executive director for consumers, payments and competition, who added that it would “support the expansion of open banking, enabling more people to make payments directly from their bank accounts.”

Apple says the change would weaken security

Apple rejects the premise. In a statement to the BBC, it said its current arrangements already let developers offer in-app contactless services from payments to car keys while keeping users’ data protected. Apple said it does not believe the CMA should require it “to adopt an approach with lower privacy and security protections”, and that it “will continue to engage constructively to reach an outcome that is in the best interest of our users.”

The proposal is the latest use of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which lets the CMA impose conduct requirements on firms it has designated with strategic market status. It gave Apple that status for its mobile platform in October 2025, according to the case page, and is now proposing the same designation for Microsoft in business software.

Britain would go further than Brussels on one point and less far on another

The obvious comparison is the EU, where the European Commission in July 2024 made Apple’s NFC commitments legally binding to settle an antitrust case, as TechCrunch reported at the time.

	EU (2024 commitments)	UK (CMA proposal, 2026)
Status	Binding for 10 years	Proposal; consultation to 17 Nov
Technology	HCE; secure element not opened	Both HCE and secure element
Price	Free of charge	Not set; “substantially lower” fees expected
Legal route	Antitrust commitments	DMCC Act conduct requirement

Source: CMA proposals and consultation, 20 October 2026; TechCrunch on the European Commission’s commitments decision, 11 July 2024.

The UK plan would give developers a choice of technology that the EU deal did not, but it stops short of free access. That gap is likely to be where the fight over the next four weeks centres, since fintechs will argue about what “substantially lower” means in pounds.

One procedural detail shows how delicate it can be for companies that depend on Apple to criticise it. Its consultation page says any non-disclosure agreement with Apple should not stop a company responding, and that “Apple has also confirmed that it will not use any other confidentiality provision” to prevent them. Responses are due by 11:59pm on 17 November.