According to EU antitrust laws, the EC claims to have made Apple's promises legally enforceable, ending an antitrust lawsuit and averting a punishment that would total billions of dollars.

The 10-year commitment is mostly based on an offer made by the US tech giant in January, according to which third-party mobile wallet and payment service providers can freely access and interact with iOS devices' NFC functionality through a set of APIs, negating the need for Apple Pay or Apple Wallet.

In order to provide comparable access to the NFC components in the Host Card Emulation (HCE) mode—a method that is designed to safely store payment credentials and carry out transactions without depending on an on-device secure element—Apple will develop the required APIs.

The agreement applies to all iOS users with an Apple ID registered in the European Economic Area as well as third-party mobile wallet software developers based in the region. Apple will also not stop users from using these applications to make payments in stores outside of the European Economic Area.

Additionally, Apple promises to enable a suppression mechanism, access to FaceID login capabilities, and the defaulting of preferred payment apps.

The modifications increase the number of locations where HCE payment applications can be used to start payments at industry-certified terminals, including merchant phones and terminal devices.

Additionally, they do away with the need for developers to get a PSP license or a legally binding contract with a PSP in order to access NFC input. Additionally, Apple will grant developers access to NFC so they may pre-build payment apps for outside mobile wallet providers.

According to the EC, "Apple's final pledges would address the Commission's competition concerns regarding Apple's limitation of third-party mobile wallet developers' access to NFC payments in stores for iOS users in the European Economic Area." Thus, it made the decision to bind Apple legally."

Even if the dispute may have been resolved in Europe, Apple is still facing problems in the US. As part of a broad case, the Justice Department claims that Apple is monopolizing the smartphone industry and has granted access to the NFC chip technology.