Quick Overview Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority has unveiled proposals allowing app developers to direct users toward alternative payment methods. The measures specifically target
The United Kingdom’s competition regulator has unveiled significant proposals that could fundamentally alter how Apple and Google manage payment processing within their app ecosystems. The Competition and Markets Authority made the announcement on Tuesday.
UK Regulator Proposes Opening Apple & Google App Stores to Rival Payment Systems | 30 June 2026
Proposal: The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed allowing app developers to direct users to alternative payment methods outside the $AAPL (Apple) App Store…
— Markets Today (@marketsday) June 30, 2026
The regulatory intervention focuses on what industry insiders call “steering” — the practice of app developers informing users about payment alternatives that exist beyond Apple and Google’s proprietary payment infrastructures.
Currently, Apple maintains a complete prohibition on this steering practice. Google enforces limitations on it. The result is that developers have little choice but to utilize the platforms’ native payment processing systems.
These proprietary payment systems extract commissions that can climb as high as 30% on certain transactions. The CMA’s intervention seeks to disrupt this arrangement.
While the proposal wouldn’t ban companies from imposing fees for steering entirely, it would mandate that such charges meet standards of fairness, reasonableness, and remain below current commission levels.
The watchdog emphasized that resulting savings should flow either to consumers or fund developer innovation. Will Hayter, serving as the CMA’s executive director for digital markets, emphasized that the initiative aims to expand options for both app creators and end users.
He further noted that any fees levied by Apple and Google must be supported by transparent evidence demonstrating their connection to actual costs and delivered value.
Beyond payment steering, the CMA is evaluating whether to mandate that Apple grant access to its near-field communication capabilities. This technology enables contactless payment functionality on iPhone devices.
Should this requirement be implemented, developers would gain the ability to integrate payment services directly within their iOS applications. Such a change could enable British fintech firms to develop alternatives competing with Apple’s wallet solution.
The regulator highlighted account-to-account transfers and emerging technologies, including digital currencies, as potential applications that could benefit from expanded NFC access.
These proposals emerge from Britain’s digital markets regulatory framework. This legislation grants the CMA authority to establish targeted requirements for corporations designated as possessing “strategic market status.”
Both Apple and Google received this designation in the previous year based on their mobile ecosystem dominance.
Google’s response highlighted modifications it has already implemented. The corporation revised its Play Store policies earlier this month to accommodate developer steering toward external payment options.
The CMA indicated it will assess these modifications as part of its evaluation process before issuing a final determination later in the year.
Apple has adopted a contrasting position. The technology giant maintains it does not endorse redirecting users away from its integrated payment system.
An Apple representative stated that such practices could facilitate fraudulent schemes, deceptive tactics, and circumvention of parental control mechanisms. The spokesperson emphasized that users forfeit important protections when diverted from Apple’s payment infrastructure.
Apple indicated it will continue expressing its objections directly to the CMA throughout the consultation process.
This represents the latest in a series of enforcement actions the CMA has pursued against both corporations. In February, the regulator obtained commitments from Apple and Google to enhance transparency across their app store operations.
Those earlier commitments addressed ranking algorithms, review systems, and feature access. However, they left commission structures untouched.
The CMA stated at that juncture that steering practices remained a high-priority concern. Competition authorities in the European Union, the United States, and Japan have similarly been examining comparable app store business practices.
The post CMA Moves to Break Apple and Google’s Grip on App Store Payments appeared first on Blockonomi.
