Switzerland’s competition commission has started a preliminary investigation into whether Apple’s terms for third-party access to the iPhone’s NFC technology violate Swiss antitrust laws.
The Secretariat of the Swiss Competition Commission opened the investigation on December 10 to determine whether other mobile payment apps from competitors can compete fairly with Apple Pay.
Apple grants third parties access to the NFC interface on iOS devices solely via NFC & SE platform technology and subject to its terms and conditions. On 10 December 2025, the Secretariat opened a preliminary investigation to assess whether Apple is violating Swiss antitrust law. Among other things, it seeks to clarify whether other providers of mobile payment apps can effectively compete with Apple Pay for contactless payments with iOS devices in shops.
While Google has long allowed access to Android phones’ NFC technology, Apple only began allowing access to NFC in the iPhone in late 2024. The commission is investigating whether Apple’s conditions for usage differ from those Apple had agreed to in the European Union last year, after being pressured by the European Commission to allow said access. Switzerland is not a member of the EU.
The investigation is now collecting information from Swiss market participants to decide if Apple’s terms for Switzerland do comply with the country’s competition laws.
