Apple on Friday moves in Germany to force to open up its Apple Pay mobile payment system that can hurt the data protection and security of financial information. German parliamentary committee voted on Wednesday to force the tech giant to open up the Apple Pay in Germany.
This decision came in the form of an amendment to anti-money laundering law opted a week back by the full parliament. This law is set to come into effect by early next year. This legislation will force operators in Germany of electronic money infrastructure to offer access to rivals for reasonable fee. This amendment displays the desire of lawmakers in Germany for tighter regulation of US technology companies.
Apple is known for its security and data protection of the users. Apple Pay, the tech giant's digital payment method, allows people to pay with their iPhones, is a fast-growing area of the company’s business, one which threatens to undermine traditional banks’ long-standing dominance of retail payment systems.
In the statement released by Apple said, "We are surprised at how suddenly this legislation was introduced. We fear that the draft law could be harmful to user-friendliness, data protection and the security of financial information.”
This new legislation has come when Apple, which is already under the radar of the EU's Antitrust because of the method Apple Pay operates.
According to the government, resources said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office had pushed the committee to withdraw the amendment. However, the official said, there had been complete consensus within the government over the move denied this claim.
