European Union: European Commission announces investigation into Apple's practices regarding Apple Pay/NFC payments

On 16 June 2020, the European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation assessing whether Apple's conduct with respect to Apple Pay violates EU competition laws. According to the Commission, the investigation concerns the integration of Apple Pay into the payment systems of iOS/iPadOS, as well as the fact that only Apple Pay can access mobile Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in stores, which may announce to a breach of competition laws or the abuse of a dominant position.