UK CMA proposes forcing Apple to open iPhone NFC to rival wallets on FRAND terms

The Competition and Markets Authority opened a consultation on 20 October 2026 on a conduct requirement that would oblige Apple, designated with Strategic Market Status for its mobile platform, to give authorised developers access to NFC on iOS devices on fair, reasonable, transparent and non-discriminatory terms. The CMA proposes that access be offered through host card emulation or the secure element, whichever an authorised developer requests, and that Apple be able to refuse or withdraw access only where a developer breaches applicable law or industry standards, with temporary interruption reserved for actual or credible serious harm. The consultation closes at 23:59 on 17 November 2026 and follows a call for evidence published on 30 June 2026.

Apple Pay is today the only wallet that can reach the contactless chip in a UK iPhone, and the CMA notes that no rival wallet product has launched in the UK at all, unlike in the EU where the European Commission's 2024 commitments already opened the chip. A FRAND access duty would let banks, acquirers and PSPs put their own tap-to-pay wallets on iPhone, and would bring Apple's access charge inside a regulated framework rather than leaving it to Apple to set. For acceptance that changes who can own the tap at the terminal in the UK's second-largest card market by wallet share.

Whether the CMA imposes the requirement after the 17 November close, what pricing principles it settles on for the access fee, and whether Apple challenges the decision.

• gov.uk
• CMA case page: Apple's mobile platform