Apple Accused of Breaching Antitrust Laws because of Apple Pay

Canadian financial company Affinity Credit Union has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The US company is accused of breaching antitrust laws because Apple Pay is the only payment tool on its devices, which, according to the plaintiffs, hurts competing payment systems.

The plaintiffs are concerned that users of iPhones and other Apple devices uses only Apple Pay to make contactless payments when purchasing any goods in shops. Other payment services, as well as bank apps, cannot be used as an alternative payment system on the company's devices.

As a monopolist, Apple charges a fee to card issuers, which other such services cannot do. For instance, Samsung Pay and Google Pay.

According to the plaintiff, the American company practice violates antitrust laws and allows Apple to use its dominant position to build up profits. Affinity Credit Union said in a statement that Apple Pay fees brought in $1 billion to the company in 2019. The authors of the lawsuit believe that if Apple were to face competition, it would not be able to generate such tangible profits.

Apple, according to the Affinity Credit Union, is thus violating the Sherman Act, which is designed to protect competition by tying its mobile devices and mobile wallet together and excluding all competitors.

Affinity Credit Union will be represented in the California court by the firm Hagens Berman, which has frequently defended the interests of plaintiffs in disputes with the IT company.