Ken Miller

WOAH! The DoJ is suing Apple for Antitrust. What does the DoJ lawsuit mean for Fintech? 👩‍⚖️The lawsuit claims alleges Apple is. 1. Suppressing super apps that provide services across multiple devices. 2. Suppressing cloud streaming services. 3. Limiting messaging apps with blue vs green bubbles. 4. Sells smartwatches that only work with iPhones. 5, Denies access to non-Apple digital wallets and tap-to-pay. 👩‍⚖️ On Fintech specifically, the suit alleges Apple. 👉 Blocks access to tap-to-pay (NFC chips) to 3rd parties. 👉 It does not allow alternatives to the Apple Wallet to store credit cards, IDs, or tickets in the app. 👉 Apple does not allow subscriptions and in-app purchases from 3rd party wallets. 👉 Apple Wallet only supports Apple Pay and does not offer 3rd-party payment services. 👉 Use this position to extract rent from banks and payment companies. 🧠 What does this mean for Fintech? 🧠 The biggest thing in Fintech since Visa/Plaid. The DoJ has been here before, but that was breaking up a potential deal. Apple has live products, and millions of customers use them. 🧠 This is huge but won’t resolve quickly. Apple is litigious and is fighting the EU every step of the way. They did ultimately yield and make NFC and app side-loading available, but only in the EU. By doing so, Apple forced the DoJ to act. 🧠 Apple has gone from the darling of tech to widely regarded as the villain. The Apple ecosystem “just works” like magic, and part of that is because they control the ecosystem. But now they’re too big and too important to not be open to competition. Their privileged position is over. 🧠 The DoJ needs to succeed. Identity, payments, and ticketing are critical infrastructures one company can’t own. However, what the settlement ends up being will be critical. The devil is in the details. 🧠 Expect side-loading of apps and tap-to-pay for 3rd parties. It’s life in Europe, and companies like Overlay* already use it for in-store open banking (pay by bank) payments.