After Apple supported the use of third-party iPhone wallets and NFC in the EU due to the Digital Markets Act, the company has announced that in-app NFC transactions using the Secure Element will be available to developers worldwide starting with iOS 18.1. Interestingly, this comes as the US Department of Justice accuses Apple of antitrust violations over the App Store.
In a newsroom post, Apple explains that the Secure Element will allow developers to offer contactless NFC transactions within their own apps on the iPhone, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
Using the new NFC and Secure Element (SE) APIs, developers can offer contactless in-app transactions for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate IDs, student IDs, house keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets. Government IDs will also be supported in the future.
According to Apple, this solution was designed to “provide developers with a secure way to offer contactless NFC transactions from within their iOS apps.” The company explains that to perform a contactless transaction within an app that uses these APIs, users can either open the app directly or set the app as their default contactless transaction app in iOS Settings and double-click the side button on the iPhone to initiate a transaction.
However, developers who want to offer third-party iPhone wallets will need to enter into a new commercial agreement with Apple, apply for NFC and SE eligibility, and pay the associated fees.
According to Apple, this is necessary to ensure that only authorized developers who “meet certain industry and regulatory requirements and commit to Apple’s ongoing security and privacy standards can access the relevant APIs.”
The NFC and SE APIs will be available to developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and the US in an upcoming developer seed for iOS 18.1, with additional locations to follow. BGR We’ll let you know when you can add a third-party iPhone wallet in these regions as soon as we learn more.
