Court: Apple has not illegally agreed with Visa and Mastercard

Apple has initially won a US legal dispute over credit card fees for Apple Pay payments. The US District Court in Illinois judged last weekthat a group of dealers, including the beverage seller Mirage Wine & Spirits and other shops, would not have provided enough evidence of their complaint.

Apple Pay uses the large credit card networks

Judge David Dugan therefore decided to end the legal dispute. In addition to Apple, the credit card editors Visa and Mastercard were also listed as a process opponent in the lawsuit that was now rejected. The companies are said to have cooperated illegally in order to suppress the construction of competing payment systems, according to the plaintiffs. In addition, they would have illegally “blown out” their transaction fees. All of this represents a violation of competition. Richter Dugan, on the other hand, saw “numerous reasons for the circumstance”, but no specific action points. However, Dugan allowed the plaintiffs to add further evidence, writes the News agency Reuters.

According to the lawsuit, Apple currently demands 0.15 percent commission for credit card payments for Apple Pay payments. 0.5 cents are due for debit card payments. Both apply if the Visa or MasterCard payment network is used. According to the plaintiffs and means, the arrangement has innovations and mean that there are no competing systems. However, Apple uses all major payment providers for Apple Pay, including Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club and American Express (AMEX). MasterCard is used for other services such as the in-house US credit card Apple Card, the Apple Cash payment service for payments between users should use VISA internally. The plaintiffs now want Apple Pay to use other networks – not listed in more detail.

There is an NFC opening in the EU

Apple had recently had to open NFC payments in the European Union. This allows banks and fintech companies to avoid Apple Pay entirely. You can then integrate debit and credit card payments into your own apps and set up your own wallet. However, it is unclear how well this is received by users, as they then have to constantly switch between Apple Pay and the Proprietary Wallets.

The procedure in Illinois is now going on: at least judge Dugan allowed the plaintiffs to complement their lawsuit to further evidence. The group strives to establish a class action against Apple. If new evidence is not presented within 30 days, the lawsuit will be rejected completely.