Judge Jeffrey S. White has certified a nationwide class of card issuers in an antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of charging improper Apple Pay transaction fees and limiting competing mobile wallets. The ruling lets eligible banks and credit unions pursue the claims together in the case, which was filed in 2022.
White also rejected Apple’s request to exclude expert evidence about its alleged power in the mobile-wallet market, as first reported by 9to5Mac. The certified group includes U.S. entities that enabled their cards for Apple’s payment service and paid the company transaction fees.
The case puts Apple’s issuer fees under wider scrutiny
The complaint alleges that Apple charges card issuers 0.15% on credit-card purchases made through its wallet and $0.005 on debit-card transactions. On a $1,000 credit-card purchase, the claimed fee would equal $1.50. Plaintiffs say Apple collects as much as $1 billion each year through the charges.
Class certification matters because it combines claims from multiple financial institutions that otherwise would need to bring separate cases. The potential exposure is tied to recurring fees across a large payments network, while the lawsuit also seeks orders requiring Apple to alter its policies.
The issuers argue that Apple restricted rivals from accessing the iPhone’s NFC hardware, leaving its own service as the platform’s only tap-to-pay option at the time. They contrast that approach with Android, where multiple wallets can operate and card issuers do not face a comparable contactless-payment fee.
iOS opened NFC access after the lawsuit began
Apple’s NFC rules have changed since the case started. Beginning with iOS 18.1, developers gained the ability to offer NFC contactless-payment functions in their apps in the United States and several other regions. That policy shift could shape how the court views the alleged restrictions, though it does not erase the plaintiffs’ claims over earlier fees.
Whether the issuers can prove an antitrust violation remains unresolved, and no final repayment or damages amount has been set. It is also unclear whether the litigation will reach trial or end through an earlier resolution.
This article was produced with AI assistance from multi-source reporting and is published under our editorial standards.
