UK Wants Apple to Open iPhone Tap-to-Pay: What It Means for You

Emily Jones · 2026-10-20

Ever tried to pay for something with your iPhone and realized only Apple Pay works? That might soon change in the UK. Regulators there are pushing Apple to open up its contactless payment technology, and it could shake up how we all tap and go. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says Apple's tight grip on the iPhone's NFC chip is holding back innovation. They argue that Apple's fees and rules make it hard for fintech companies to compete. In the European Union, Apple already agreed to let developers access the NFC chip, as long as they meet industry standards and have the right licenses. Since Brexit, the UK isn't bound by EU rules, so the CMA is taking its own action. ### What's the Big Deal? At the heart of this is something called Host Card Emulation (HCE). It's a technology that lets apps mimic a contactless card without needing Apple's secure element. If Apple allows HCE, third-party apps could offer tap-to-pay directly, and competing digital wallets could work on iPhones alongside Apple Pay. Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, explained it simply: "The CMA wants Apple to unlock the chip so that airline apps, for example, can take payments directly and not via Apple Pay. You would tap your card on the phone to buy tickets in the airline app vs using Apple Pay. This lets the merchant avoid the extra fees of Apple Pay, but doesn't offer a lot of added utility for the consumer." So for businesses, it could mean lower fees. For consumers, it might not be a game-changer, but it could open the door to more choices. ### Why Now? Contactless payments have exploded in the UK. Ten years ago, they were just 3% of all payments. Now they're 39%. More than 60% of adults use a digital wallet, and Apple Wallet is the most popular. That's a lot of people tapping their phones every day. But until now, the iPhone's NFC chip only worked with Apple Wallet for payments. Third-party apps could use the chip for other things, but not for contactless payments. The EU changed that, but the UK hasn't. The CMA wants to change that. ### Apple's Pushback Apple isn't happy about it. In a statement to the BBC, the company said developers in the UK and elsewhere can already offer contactless transactions within their apps. They warned that the CMA's proposals would lead to "lower privacy and security protections." Apple has long argued that its closed system keeps users safe. ### What This Means for You If you're a business owner, this could mean more ways to accept payments and potentially lower costs. If you're a consumer, you might see more apps offering tap-to-pay, but the experience might not change much. The bigger question is whether the UK will follow the EU's lead in opening up Apple's ecosystem. For now, it's a waiting game. The CMA's proposals are just that—proposals. But they signal a growing global push to loosen Apple's control over its payment technology. And that could have ripple effects far beyond the UK.