Customers have initiated a collective legal action against Apple, alleging that the company has engaged in monopolistic practices to restrict peer-to-peer (P2P) payment methods on its devices and hinder the adoption of cryptocurrency technologies in iOS-based payment apps.
Filed in a California District Court on November 17, the lawsuit accuses Apple of entering into exclusionary agreements with prominent payment applications such as PayPal’s Venmo and Block’s Cash App. These agreements reportedly block the incorporation of decentralized cryptocurrency technologies in payment apps, resulting in higher prices for consumers.
The suit argues that Apple employs a combination of technological and contractual measures to exert control over applications on its devices. These measures include enforcing App Store exclusivity through hardware limitations and imposing constraints on web browser functionalities. Such practices, the lawsuit alleges, enable Apple to exert total control over applications on iPhones and iPads and require new iOS P2P payment applications to exclude cryptocurrency technologies as a condition for their market entry.
Identifying themselves as consumers adversely affected by Apple’s alleged anti-competitive actions, the plaintiffs are seeking financial redress for the inflated fees they claim to have paid. Additionally, they are requesting a court injunction to stop Apple from maintaining and enforcing these anti-competitive agreements that limit competition in the iOS P2P payment sector.
The comprehensive 58-page filing details the plaintiffs’ allegations against Apple and provides an overview of the development of peer-to-peer payment applications, the role of decentralized cryptocurrencies, and Apple’s influence in this sector.
This legal challenge comes in the wake of an April ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court determined that Apple had violated California’s antitrust laws by preventing apps from redirecting users to payment options not affiliated with Apple.
