Swiss competition commission Weko has agreed to a remedy by Apple that would prevent putting Swiss payment app Twint at a disadvantage in competing with Apple Pay. The automatic activation of Apple Pay on payment terminals can disrupt payments via the Twint app. After the intervention by Weko, as a redress, Apple has declared its readiness to provide a competition-friendly technical measure.
Apple Pay offers payments by iPhones and Apple Watches. The devices and the app are configured in such a way that Apple Pay launches automatically as soon as the device is placed near a terminal with a contactless payment function.
Twint payments at terminals occur by the client scanning a QR code from the display of the payment terminal. If Apple Pay automatically switches on in the meantime, then payment via the Twint app is disrupted.
Apple has undertaken to provide a technical option to Twint to override the automatic start of Apple Pay when paying via the Twint app. Based on this commitment, Weko has stopped its preliminary investigation of Apple.
In November, Weko began investigating several Swiss financial institutions for suspected boycott of mobile payment services from international providers such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
