- Apple is being forced to open up its in-app payment methods for the first time ever.
- Developers have long decried the system. Regulators around the world are now paying attention, too.
- Here’s where Apple is facing regulatory backlash for making apps use its own payment system.
Since Apple launched the App Store in 2008, the tech giant has controlled most aspects of how the platform runs, including byzantine requirements for app approval and a reliance on in-house systems.
The approach has created a relatively seamless user experience and a business that generates billions of dollars a year in high-margin services revenue for the iPhone maker.
However, some developers have long lamented how Apple requires apps to use its payment system, which takes a 15-30% cut of transactions. The complaints have become so loud that antitrust regulators across the globe have launched investigations and are even forcing the company to offer alternatives.
Apple is trying to fight the changes on all fronts, but sheer the number of regulatory attacks likely mean lucrative bricks may soon be knocked from the company’s walled garden.
Here’s a roundup of where Apple is being pressured to open up its App Store to more competition, especially in payments:
