Apple sued for antitrust violations over Apple Pay

Payment card issuers sued Apple Inc in a proposed class action for allegedly abusing its market power in mobile devices to thwart competition for its Apple Pay mobile wallet.

In contrast to manufacturers of Android-based devices, which allow customers to choose wallets like Google Pay and Samsung Pay, Apple "coerces" consumers who use its smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets into using its wallet for contactless payments.

Apple's anticompetitive behavior, according to the plaintiff, Iowa's Affinity Credit Union, requires the more than 4,000 banks and credit unions who utilize Apple Pay to pay at least $1 billion in additional fees each year for the privilege.

It also claimed that Apple's actions reduce the company's incentive to improve Apple Pay's functionality and make it more secure. Apple is situated in Cupertino, California.

Unspecified triple damages are sought in the action, along with an end to Apple's allegedly anticompetitive behavior.

According to the complaint, Apple charges issuers a 0.15 percent fee on credit transactions and a flat debit transaction cost of 0.5 cents when using Apple Pay, whereas competitors using Android don't.