Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority is considering rules that would make Apple and Google loosen their grip on app payments in the UK, Reuters reported. The proposal targets “steering,” the boring policy word for letting an app tell users they can pay somewhere else, usually on the web, instead of through an app store checkout.
For developers, that is the part of the mobile toll booth that matters. Apple currently bars UK developers from directing users to off-platform payment options, while Google restricts the practice, according to the CMA. The regulator’s proposal would remove those limits and require any fee Apple or Google charges for steering to be fair, reasonable and below existing app store commissions.
The CMA said any savings should reach consumers or be put back into product development. Will Hayter, the regulator’s executive director for digital markets, is expected to say Apple and Google can be paid for services they provide, but that those charges must be supported by evidence tied to cost and value, according to an excerpt of his planned remarks cited by Reuters.
Apple’s payment chip is also in scope
The CMA is also looking at whether to require Apple to give developers access to the iPhone’s near-field communication technology. NFC is the short-range radio system used when a phone taps a payment terminal. On iOS, Apple’s control of that access shapes who can build tap-to-pay wallet services on the device.
The regulator said opening NFC could let UK financial technology companies build iOS payment products that compete with Apple’s wallet, including account-to-account payment tools and services using developing technologies such as digital currencies.
The mechanism is straightforward enough: if a developer can both tell a customer about a cheaper payment route and access the phone hardware needed for contactless payment, Apple and Google have less control over where the transaction happens. The commercial fight is over how much the platform owners can still charge for the privilege of reaching users on their systems.
Google says it has already moved
Google said in an emailed statement that it had already changed its Play Store terms earlier this month to let developers send users outside the platform to finish transactions. The CMA said it will examine those changes before deciding later this year whether to impose binding requirements.
Apple pushed back. A company spokesperson said allowing apps to send users away from Apple’s payment system could expose them to scams, bait-and-switch tactics and ways around parental controls. Apple has previously argued that off-platform payment links could weaken security and fraud protections and reduce its ability to verify purchases.
The proposals sit inside the UK’s newer digital markets regime, which lets the CMA impose bespoke conduct rules on companies it has designated as holding “strategic market status.” The regulator gave that status to Apple and Google in mobile ecosystems last year, according to Reuters.
In February, the CMA secured commitments from both companies covering app store fairness and transparency, including changes involving rankings, reviews and access to some features. Those commitments did not cover commissions, which Reuters reported can be as high as 30%.
The CMA said at the time that steering users to alternative payment methods remained a priority. Similar fights over app store payment rules have drawn attention from regulators in the European Union, the United States and Japan.
This story draws on original reporting from Reuters.
