Apple Will Be Fined After Failing to Meet Payment System Requirements

Apple will be fined €5 million ($5.7 million) per week with a total limit of €50 million for interfering with third-party payment systems in applications.

Last year the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) notified Apple that it had to allow developers of dating apps alternative payment systems to be used in applications. The company made concessions and allowed the use of third-party payment methods in dating apps. ACM considered this insufficient and imposed a fine of €5 million on Apple. The fines will continue to be assessed at €5 million every week up to a maximum of €50 million until Apple complies.

Last week, following Apple's announcement that dating apps in the Dutch App Store will be able to offer users third-party payment methods to make in-app purchases, ACM stated it would assess whether these changes meet the requirements of the regulator's previous decision.

ACM had previously claimed that Apple uses anti-competitive business practices in its App Store. In the recent press release, ACM stated that the changes proposed by Apple fail to "satisfy the requirements" that were put forward by the regulator. 

According to the press release, Apple has established a number of "barriers for dating-app providers to the use of third-party payment systems" in a convenient way as the provider of such software must first submit a request to Apple and obtain permission to offer third-party payment methods to users. In addition, ACM said: “Apple seemingly forces app providers to make a choice: either refer to payment systems outside of the app or to an alternative payment system”. ACM claimed that it is "not allowed" and requires Apple to allow developers to have both options.