UK Moves to Open Up iPhone NFC for Apple Pay Rivals, and Access Could Get Cheaper

The UK's competition authority, the CMA, has proposed new rules to remove the barriers facing contactless payment apps that rival Apple Pay on the iPhone. The proposal aims to make access to Apple's NFC chip both cheaper and technically easier. The real question is whether access on paper will turn into genuine competition.

What happened?

Apple opened up NFC access to developers in the UK in 2024. However, companies still have to sign a contract with Apple, pay fees, and store payment credentials in the iPhone's Secure Element chip. The CMA wants Apple to also support host card emulation (HCE) and to cut access fees significantly. Apple argues that this approach would weaken privacy and security. The consultation period runs until 17 November 2026.

Why does it matter?

For years, the iPhone's NFC chip was open only to Apple Pay. On Android, by contrast, HCE has been available since the KitKat release in 2013. Google Wallet and many bank apps offer contactless payments this way. In other words, HCE is neither new nor experimental. A significant share of the world's contactless payments already runs on this infrastructure.

Apple did not open the door voluntarily. The European Commission's investigation closed in 2024 with commitments from Apple, which agreed to open up NFC in the EU free of charge and with HCE. That same year, restrictions on digital wallets were among the allegations in the antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice. The CMA's move is the UK link in this chain of pressure.

The CMA's strongest argument rests on comparison. After free HCE access arrived in the EU, rival payment apps reached the market. Norway-based Vipps is one well-known example. In the UK, under current terms, not a single rival wallet has launched. That suggests the problem is commercial rather than technical: access exists, but the costs and obligations make a business model unworkable.

What is changing?

Apple's security objection is not entirely baseless. The Secure Element keeps card data in hardware isolated from the operating system. HCE does the same job in software, mostly with cloud-based tokens. However, the CMA says the evidence it reviewed does not show that either approach is inherently insecure. More than a decade of HCE experience on Android also supports that view.

Who stands to benefit? Banks are probably the biggest winners. Offering contactless payments through their own apps could reduce the transaction share they pay to Apple. Google Wallet coming to the iPhone is less likely: there seems to be no strong commercial reason for Google to make an aggressive wallet push on iOS. The real challenge is the habit of the default option. Users double-pressing the side button to open Apple Pay is the highest hurdle rivals have to clear.

How will this affect users in Türkiye?

The CMA decision binds only the UK and has no direct legal effect in Türkiye. Still, it offers an indirect lesson. Because Apple Pay is not officially available in Türkiye, iPhone users are largely shut out of phone-based contactless payments. On Android, some domestic bank apps can provide this service through HCE.

Apple applies regional rules country by country, so the change in the UK will not automatically come to Türkiye. But a model established in the EU and the UK gives other regulators a ready-made template. If Turkish banks and fintech companies want their own contactless payment solutions on the iPhone, they now have concrete examples to point to.

What's next?

The first thing to watch is how far fees fall in the final decision. The gap between "lower" and "free" will determine whether smaller players enter the market. The second is Apple's stance: will it go the commitments route as it did in the EU, or choose a legal challenge? The third is the course of the US case, where a ruling could shape the global standard more than the UK does.

The CMA's approach looks sound. The EU experience showed that access being open on paper is not enough; it also has to be economically viable. Even so, lower fees and HCE support alone will not create competition. Rivals will need to give users a reason to break their Apple Pay habit.

You can follow the regulatory process on the CMA's official page.