European Commission – Apple NFC Commitments

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Analysis: WEKO Preliminary Investigation on NFC Access on Apple Devices

Significance for Sovereignty, International Comparison & Media Coverage

1. Background: What is WEKO investigating?

The Swiss Competition Commission (WEKO) has been examining since December 10, 2025, whether the way Apple grants access to the NFC and Secure Element platform (NFC & SE) on iOS devices is problematic under competition law.

Until 2024, NFC access on iPhones was completely Apple-exclusive. Since late 2024, Swiss providers have been allowed to access the NFC & SE platform – however, under different conditions than in the EU/EEA area.

WEKO's core question is:

Do the conditions set by Apple enable effective competition between Apple Pay and other payment providers?

2. Significance in the Context of Digital & Economic Sovereignty

2.1 Control over Digital Infrastructure

NFC belongs to the central infrastructures in the mobile payment sector. When a single global provider (Apple) determines:

  • who gets access,
  • how access functions technically,
  • and under what conditions apps can participate,

then a leverage emerges that can structurally disadvantage local providers.

Sovereignty means here: → States and local companies should not be completely dependent on the decisions of a single platform operator.

2.2 Dependencies and Innovation Capacity

Restricted or discriminatory access leads to:

  • reduced innovation,
  • less competition,
  • dependency on proprietary ecosystems.

Open interfaces, on the other hand, strengthen:

  • national digital value creation,
  • local payment providers (e.g., TWINT),
  • technical sovereignty.

3. Comparison: How do other Countries and Regions Handle this?

3.1 European Union / EEA

The EU Commission declared Apple's voluntary commitments binding on July 11, 2024. These secure:

  • free and cost-free NFC access for third parties,
  • the possibility of alternative default wallets,
  • fair competitive conditions.

→ Legal basis: EU competition law + Digital Markets Act (DMA).

3.2 USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Brazil

Outside the EU as well, Apple is opening NFC access – partly voluntarily, partly encouraged by regulation. The trend is clear: Pressure is increasing worldwide to dismantle proprietary restrictions.

3.3 Germany

Germany has classified Apple under the GWB Digitization Act as a company with paramount cross-market significance. This puts Apple's business models (including Apple Pay / NFC restrictions) under increased scrutiny.

4. What do heise.de and the BSI say about this?

4.1 heise.de

heise.de has reported multiple times on the following points:

  • EU opening of the NFC interface
  • Competition between Apple Pay and other payment services
  • Security and platform aspects

heise.de has not specifically reported on the Swiss WEKO preliminary investigation, but has published several contextually relevant articles.

4.2 BSI (Germany)

The BSI publishes:

  • Security analyses on NFC technologies,
  • technical framework conditions,
  • guidelines for secure mobile payments.

The BSI does not comment on:

  • competition law issues,
  • Apple's platform policy,
  • competitive matters.

There is no known BSI position specifically on opening the Apple NFC stack.

5. Critical Assessment of the Current Situation

5.1 Opportunities

  • Strengthening the Swiss payment ecosystem
  • Fairer market conditions
  • Reduction of structural dependencies on Apple
  • Innovation promotion

5.2 Risks / Problems

  • Switzerland has no Digital Markets Act → competition law threshold higher
  • Apple can use security arguments to justify restrictive designs
  • WEKO needs comprehensive technical and competitive evidence
  • Different conditions in EEA vs. CH lead to market asymmetries

6. Conclusion

The WEKO investigation is a decisive building block for:

  • Switzerland's digital sovereignty,
  • the competitiveness of local providers,
  • avoiding monopolistic platform control over critical components like NFC.

Other countries – especially the EU – are regulatorily further ahead. Switzerland must take the detour through classical competition law, which is more complex.

Sources

Media & Specialist Reports

heise.de – Contextually Relevant Articles

Regulatory Sources

  • European Commission – Apple NFC Commitments (July 11, 2024) (Official press release via ec.europa.eu, not linked due to ChatGPT guidelines)

BSI – NFC Security Fundamentals

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