Apple Pay is the payment system of the Big Apple that opened in 2014 after the introduction of the iPhone 6. Since then, the Apple Pay momentum has been exponential and criticism about the exclusive restrictions on use by Apple services has increased. This was nothing more than a strategy on the part of the company to ensure control of transactions, maintain the security and privacy of users in addition to strengthening the financial services ecosystem itself. Little by little, European regulation has forced Apple to make changes and it seems that part of these changes are extrapolated to other countries since Apple has announced the opening of the NFC chip to third-party developers starting with iOS 18.1 in more countries, We tell you everything below.
NFC chip will open to third-party developers in iOS 18.1
The NFC (Near Field Communication) chip in the iPhone allows, among other things, to make payments through Apple Pay, carry transport passes in some countries, read labels with NFC technology and much more. However, Apple has always wanted to maintain strict regulatory control over the use of the chip in iPhones. This has caused large and powerful regulatory investigations to avoid monopolistic practices. In fact, it has already led Apple to make major changes to its structure in the European Union, even forcing it to open the NFC chip to third-party developers.
And all this goes much further since it seems that Apple has given in and finally will open the NFC chip to third-party developers in more countries according to the new press release published on its official website. It announces that it will be from iOS 18.1 when developers will be able to offer Contactless transactions via NFC using the Secure Element environment:
The new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs allow developers to offer contactless transactions within apps for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop public transportation, corporate credentials, student IDs, house keys, keys hotel bills, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, event tickets, and in the future, government IDs.
In addition to announcing these two new APIs (NFC and SE), they have also confirmed that the user You can configure an app other than Apple Wallet as a contactless app. That is, we can access a different environment than Apple Wallet by pressing the lock button twice as if we were going to pay somewhere or access the cards stored in the app. All this under a solution with high security and protection of user privacy.
This technology and all its documentation is now available in the developer center and will arrive in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States with the iOS 18.1 update that will be released at the end of the year. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that Locations will be added later.