Digital payment services developed by U.S. tech giants such as Apple and Alphabet's Google risk reinforcing their market power by giving them greater sway over consumers' data, France's antitrust authority said on Thursday. Apple Pay is only available on iPhones and is the only tool able to use the NFC contactless technology on these smartphones, for instance. Apple Pay has already attracted regulatory scrutiny from the European Commision, as part of an investigation launched last year. EU antitrust regulators are looking into Apple's requirement forcing app developers to sell to customers using its own in-app purchase system. They are also concerned that Apple Pay, launched in 2014, is the only mobile payment service allowed to use the "tap and go" functionality on iPhones.

Source: The Hindu April 29, 2021 12:23 UTC