Apple is confronted with a class action lawsuit alleging anticompetitive behavior in the iOS peer-to-peer payments sector.
Dissatisfied consumers have initiated a class-action lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the technology behemoth has colluded to restrict peer-to-peer payment capabilities on its devices and obstruct cryptographic technologies from iOS payment applications.
The complaint, filed in a California District Court on November 17, asserts that Apple engaged in anticompetitive agreements with Block’s Cash App and PayPal’s Venmo to restrict the use of decentralized cryptocurrency technology in payment applications. As a result, users were allegedly required to pay “rapidly inflating prices.”
The filing states, “These agreements limit feature competition—and the price competition that would flow from it—market wide, including by barring the incorporation of decentralized cryptocurrency technology within existing or new iOS Peer-to-Peer Payment apps,”
To “exercise unfettered control over every app installed and executed on iPhones and iPads,” the plaintiffs further assert that Apple employs “technological and contractual restraints,” such as hardware-enforced App Store exclusivity and “contractual limitations on web browser technology.”
“As a condition for entry,” the lawsuit asserts, Apple can and does compel newcomers to market iOS P2P payment applications prohibiting cryptocurrencies.
The plaintiffs identify as consumers with exorbitant charges due to Apple’s trade restrictions on the iOS peer-to-peer payment sector.
Plaintiffs aim to obtain reimbursement for exorbitant charges and overcharging resulting from Apple’s purported anticompetitive behavior, as well as injunctive relief that prohibits the company from further engaging in and enforcing anticompetitive contracts that impede rivals and prospective entrants in the iOS P2P Payment Market.
The 58-page class action lawsuit describes Apple’s entrance into this market and the rise and development of peer-to-peer payment applications and decentralized cryptocurrencies.
Apple was found to have contravened California’s competition laws in April by prohibiting apps from directing users to non-Apple linked payment solutions, as determined by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
