LONDON – Apple agreed to stop Apple Pay automatically launching and disrupting Swiss rival TWINT, WEKO, the Swiss competition commision, said on Tuesday.
Apple Pay Causing Disruption
Apple Pay is the default payment service on the iPhone. It launched in Switzerland in July 2016. Users in the country complained that it would open when they were trying to use local alternative TWINT (via AppleInsider). Apple has now offered an unspecified technical fix to this issue. Consequently, WEKO called off its preliminary probe. The agency said:
“Apple has committed to provide TWINT with the technical capability to suppress the automatic launch of Apple Pay during the payment process with the TWINT app.”
More Issues in Switzerland
The issue may not be totally resolved though. There are reports that WEKO is investigating whether Apple has to make the NFC chip in iPhones available for use by services other than its own (via 9to5 Mac). Weko is also investigating a suspected boycott of mobile payment solutions, including Apple Pay, by major Swiss finance firms such as Credit Suisse and UBS.