Apple Sued Due To Apple Payment system
TECHDIGEST- Addressing Apple Pay, the company has been sued in the US.
The technology behemoth is charged with leveraging its dominance in the mobile phone sector to ward off competition from rival payment card providers.
Affinity Credit Union, a chartered credit union with its headquarters in Iowa, filed the class-action lawsuit in a federal court in California.
Apple “coerces” users of its smartphones, smart watches, and tablets to use its own wallet for contactless payments, in contrast to manufacturers of Android-based devices that provide users a choice of wallets, such as Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the complaint claims.
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According to the complaint, Apple forbids users from utilizing competing mobile wallets that can provide competing tap and pay options.
The almost 4,000 banks and credit unions that utilize Apple Spend, according to Iowa’s Affinity Credit Union, are compelled to pay at least $1 billion in extra fees each year as a result of Apple’s anti-competitive behavior.
Additionally, it said that Apple’s actions reduced the company’s incentive to improve Apple Pay’s functionality and make it more secure.
“Apple’s conduct harms not only issuers, but also consumers and competition as a whole,” Affinity Credit Union said.”If Apple faced competition, it could not sustain these substantial fees.”
Unspecified monetary damages and an end to Apple’s claimed anti-competitive behavior are sought in the case.
