What happened
A US federal judge in California certified a class action that lets payment-card issuers sue Apple together over Apple Pay transaction fees. Judge Jeffrey S. White issued the order in the Northern District of California; reports date it to 23 September 2026. The class covers US entities that issued a payment card enabled for Apple Pay and paid Apple a fee on Apple Pay transactions.
The claim
The lead plaintiff, Affinity Credit Union of Des Moines, Iowa, argues that Apple's control of the iPhone's NFC chip left banks with no way to offer tap-to-pay in their own apps, forcing them through Apple Pay and its fees. In the US those fees run at around 0.15% of the transaction for credit cards and roughly half that for debit. The plaintiffs put the alleged take at about $1 billion a year.
Details of the ruling
- Class certification granted (reports date it to 23–25 September 2026). - Apple's bid to exclude the plaintiffs' expert testimony was denied, according to reports; that testimony argued Apple holds monopoly power over the mobile wallet market. - Hagens Berman, the firm representing the credit unions, describes the class as all US issuers that enabled Apple Pay and paid fees on Apple Pay transactions.
Context and outlook
Apple opened NFC access to third parties in iOS 18.1 — in the US, the EU and elsewhere. That answers the complaint going forward, but not the plaintiffs' demand for damages covering fees already paid, which they call illegally collected. A separate US Department of Justice antitrust case also examines Apple Pay. Expect years rather than months; appeals and further expert fights are likely.
