Apple to open NFC chip to developers in iOS 18.1

Apple Pay is the payment system from the Big Apple that was launched in 2014 after the introduction of the iPhone 6. Since then, the momentum of Apple Pay has been exponential and criticism about the exclusive restrictions of use by Apple services has increased. This was nothing more than a strategy by the company to ensure control of transactions, maintain the security and privacy of users in addition to the empowerment of the financial services ecosystem itself. Little by little, European regulation has forced Apple to make changes and it seems that part of these changes are extrapolated to other countries since Apple has announced the opening of the NFC chip to third-party developers starting with iOS 18.1 in more countries, We will tell you everything below.

NFC chip will be opened to third-party developers in iOS 18.1

The NFC (Near Field Communication) chip in iPhones allows, among other things, to make payments through Apple Pay, to carry transport passes in some countries, to read tags with NFC technology and much more. However, Apple has always wanted to maintain strict regulatory control over the use of the chip in iPhones. This has led to large and powerful regulatory investigations to prevent monopolistic practices. In fact, it has already led Apple to make major changes to its structure in the European Union, even forcing it to open up the NFC chip to third-party developers.

And all this goes much further since it seems that Apple has given in and finally will open the NFC chip to third-party developers in more countries according to the new press release published on its official website. It is announced that it will be from iOS 18.1 when developers will be able to offer Contactless transactions via NFC using the Secure Element environment:

The new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs enable developers to offer contactless transactions within apps for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop public transportation, corporate credentials, student IDs, house keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, event tickets, and in the future, government IDs.

In addition to announcing these two new APIs (NFC and SE) they have also confirmed that the user You can set up an app other than Apple Wallet as your contactless app. That is, we will be able to access an environment other than Apple Wallet by pressing the lock button twice as if we were going to pay somewhere or access the cards stored in the app. All of this under a high security solution and protection of user privacy.

This technology and all its documentation is now available on the developer center and will arrive in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States with the iOS 18.1 update that will be released later this year. In addition, it has been confirmed that locations will be added later.