According to Reuters, Apple says moves in Germany to force it to open up Apple Pay to rivals could hurt data protection and the security of financial information.
A German parliamentary committee voted in a Nov. 13 late-night session to force the tech giant to open up its mobile payment service to rival providers in Germany. This came in the form of an amendment to an anti-money laundering law that was adopted late on Thursday by the full parliament and is set to come into effect early next year.
The legislation, which did not name Apple specifically, will force operators of electronic money infrastructure to offer access to rivals for a “reasonable fee,” according to Reuters. Apple Pay became available in Germany in December 2018 with support for 15 banks and services such as Comdirect and Deutsche Bank.
