Summary
The UK Competition and Markets Authority is consulting on a proposal requiring Apple to provide businesses access to both main contactless technologies on iPhone. It expects substantially lower access fees, but has not set a price and will decide after the consultation.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is consulting on a proposal that would require Apple to give businesses access to both main contactless technologies used on iPhone. The regulator expects the proposed access terms to bring substantially lower fees, but is not setting a specific price. Its consultation, announced on 20 October 2026, concerns a proposed requirement under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
Apple currently offers UK businesses access only through secure element (SE), one of the two approaches the CMA identifies. The other is host-based card emulation (HCE). The proposals would require Apple to support both, giving businesses a choice of technology for contactless services.
What the proposal would change
Near field communication (NFC) is the short-range wireless technology behind many contactless interactions. In the CMA’s description, SE stores information on the device, while HCE stores data off-device. Both approaches are used across mobile platforms for services including payments.
The CMA says evidence it has seen suggests neither approach raises inherent security concerns. It argues that access to both would support a wider range of uses and help UK firms offer payment services already available in the EU.
The proposal addresses commercial terms as well as technical access. The CMA says businesses have raised concerns that Apple’s current fees and other terms may make it difficult to build viable products. Rather than prescribe a price, the regulator has proposed principles for determining access terms, with the expectation that fees would be substantially lower while still fairly rewarding Apple for providing access.
Potential uses beyond payments
Contactless access could support competing digital wallets and payment services, as well as digital IDs, age-verification tools, travel passes, tickets, loyalty services and digital keys for cars, hotels or workplaces. These are potential applications identified by the CMA, rather than products guaranteed by the proposal.
The regulator says contactless payments are already a major part of everyday transactions in the UK and that Apple Wallet is the country’s most popular digital wallet. It also points to a contrast with the EU, where alternative payment apps launched after Apple agreed to provide NFC access. The CMA’s stated aim is to make it more commercially and technically feasible for UK businesses to develop competing services.
The measures are not yet in force. The consultation closes on 17 November 2026, and the CMA says it will make a final decision after assessing responses. The eventual requirements and access terms will depend on that decision.