Apple finally provides access to NFC

Earlier this year, Apple had finally giving in to the European Union’s request and will be providing access to the iPhone’s NFC to third party developers. Last week, it was announced that Apple is opening the infrastructure in a few selected countries (no EU country is included) and is planning to add more countries soon (Fintech Futures). Apple fought for the longest time against this. My guess is that they knew from the beginning that they will lose the fight, and winning probably wasn’t their main objective but rather to delay the decision. With Apple Pay developing into a highly accepted payment method by consumers and businesses, it will be much harder now for third party developers to succeed with their own solution. It will be interesting to see what kind of companies are exploring such opportunities. Personally, I am lot more excited about use-cases outside of the traditional payment products. It is hard to believe that banks, fintech companies or non-financial brands will be able to build a better Apple Pay product, however, the NFC infrastructure also includes corporate badgers, car keys, closed loop transactions and more. Apple is in a perfect position to build great mass market products, but other companies might be able to use the NFC access for niche and vertical solution. What impact will this have on embedded finance? Let’s see 🍿