Apple has until the end of the month to respond to a series of technical and legal questions from CADE, Brazil’s competition watchdog, regarding alleged anti-competitive rules related to the iPhone’s NFC. Here are the details.
Apple’s NFC rules are still under fire in Brazil
Last month Apple accused Brazilian banks seek ‘free ride’ in antitrust probe involving contactless payments on iPhone.
The investigation began last year after Brazil’s central bank (Banco Central) and banking lobby group Febraban asked CADE to investigate whether third-party payment providers’ access to the iPhone’s NFC was unfairly restricted compared to Apple’s own services.
Since then, Apple has argued It noted that there is “nothing in Brazilian law that prevents it from charging for its services”, while the country only has 10% of the smartphone market and third-party developers have access to the iPhone’s NFC since 2024.
Apple also argued that the Brazilian market is well-served with payment options, saying that Apple Pay “does not harm the consumer or exclude competitors.” But so far, these arguments have not convinced regulators.
Like this week informed by Folha de S. Paulo (via MacMagazine), reinforced the CADE study:
“On Tuesday (17), the agency sent an official notice to the tech company, requesting information on payments, technical requirements and contracts signed with developers in Brazil. The company has until March 30 to respond.”
As we cover last monththis survey partly addresses PIX, a local, free and instant payment system that launched in 2020 and is by far the most widely used payment method in the country:
Last year, Banco Central introduced a contactless protocol for PIX, which Apple (unlike Google) refused to accept, deeming it a non-essential feature for Brazilians who rely heavily on PIX payments via QR codes rather than the relatively new contactless method.
As Folha de S. Paulo points out, Apple is also seeking to avoid being classified as a “Central Bank-controlled regulatory category that would bring interoperability and access obligations,” called a Payment Transaction Initiator.
Apple has yet to comment on CADE’s latest inquiry.
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