CMA proposes lower Apple iPhone contactless access fees

The Competition and Markets Authority has proposed requiring Apple to widen UK businesses’ access to iPhone contactless technology, with charges expected to fall substantially from current levels. The consultation runs until 17 November 2026 and has implications for a UK fintech sector generating about £214bn in annual turnover.

The regulator wants businesses to have a choice of the two main international contactless technology standards, rather than the single option Apple currently provides in the UK. It is proposing pricing principles, not a fixed tariff, to make access commercially viable while fairly rewarding Apple.

What happened

The proposals concern near field communication, or NFC, which allows phones to interact with payment terminals and other contactless readers. Access could enable businesses to develop competing wallets, direct bank payment services, digital credentials and products used to enter buildings or board transport.

As reported by GOV.UK Business, the CMA has heard from UK businesses that Apple’s existing arrangements may not support viable commercial products. Their concerns cover fees, restrictive terms and differences in technical access between countries and platforms, which can complicate expansion.

Apple currently offers UK businesses access through secure element technology, known as SE, which stores information on the device. The proposed requirement would also make it provide host-based card emulation, or HCE, which stores data off the device.

Both technologies are established standards used across mobile ecosystems and neither was developed by Apple. The CMA says the evidence it has reviewed indicates that neither presents inherent security concerns, and that offering both would accommodate the broadest range of uses.

The technical change would also allow UK firms to introduce payment services already available in the EU. Businesses would therefore gain a choice of access routes rather than having to build their UK products around Apple’s current SE-only approach.

On pricing, the regulator argues that technical availability alone is insufficient if access costs prevent a workable business model. Its proposed principles are expected to produce substantially lower charges, although the announcement gives neither a target price nor a percentage reduction.

The background

Contactless payments reached 19.2 billion transactions in 2025, an increase of 2%, according to UK Finance’s 2026 estimates. That total includes payments made with physical cards as well as mobile devices, so it is not a measure of phone payments alone.

Those transactions accounted for 39% of all payments, compared with 3% a decade earlier. Payments remain the most widely used application of contactless technology, but the CMA’s proposals extend beyond checkout transactions to credentials, access controls and travel.

Research published by Which? in 2026 found that 62% of UK adults used a digital wallet. Apple Wallet was the most popular choice, at 50%, giving the regulator’s access proposals relevance to a service already widely used by consumers.

The CMA says no business has launched a wallet-type product in the UK to compete with Apple’s under the existing arrangements. It contrasts that position with the EU, where Vipps introduced the first alternative payment app six months after Apple agreed to open NFC access for payments.

PayPal, Klarna, Curve and BBVA subsequently followed Vipps in the EU. The comparison forms part of the regulator’s case that different access arrangements can affect whether competing services reach a market.

The Data City’s 2025 estimates put UK fintech employment at 362,651 across 3,348 companies. Its turnover estimate was £213.6bn across 3,583 businesses; the two measures cover different business counts.

The proposed intervention is a conduct requirement under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. It follows Apple’s designation as having Strategic Market Status for its mobile platform, a regulatory framework also relevant to the CMA’s proposed market-status designation for Microsoft business software.

The legislation also has a wider business compliance reach, including review rules carrying turnover-based financial penalties. This Apple consultation, however, concerns access to contactless functionality rather than businesses’ handling of customer reviews.

What people are saying

Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive, said the combination of high fees, strict conditions and technical restrictions was making it difficult for challengers to develop competing products. She presented the proposals as a way to remove entry barriers for British businesses with new services to offer.

Cardell identified payment apps, digital IDs, travel passes and digital keys as potential beneficiaries. The regulator’s wider list also includes age-verification tools, loyalty and rewards services, and keys for cars, hotels and workplaces.

David Geale, executive director for consumers, payments and competition at the Financial Conduct Authority, welcomed the initiative. He said better access and materially lower charges should strengthen competition and increase the choices available to businesses and consumers.

Geale also linked the proposals to the expansion of open banking. In particular, he said opening the technology would support payments made directly from bank accounts, rather than restricting the opportunity to existing wallet services.

The consultation sits alongside wider scrutiny of market access and competition, including MPs’ calls for a CMA inquiry into Live Nation’s dominance. That is a separate call for investigation, not part of the Apple conduct proposal.

What happens next

Businesses and other interested parties have until Tuesday 17 November 2026 to respond. The CMA will assess those submissions before reaching a final decision; the announcement does not specify when that decision will be published.

For developers considering investment, the eventual access and pricing terms will determine whether the proposed commercial opening translates into viable products. The announcement sets out possible applications rather than confirmed UK launches, and does not provide an implementation timetable or a schedule of future Apple charges.