South Korea’s fintech companies have decided to file a petition with the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) against Apple for policy not to open its near field communication (NFC) to external app developers. Korean fintech companies argue that the closed policy prevents them from offering various fintech services to local consumers by utilizing NFC functions of iPhones.

According to the fintech industry on Sunday, major fintech companies in Korea such as Hankook NFC Co., eB Card Co., Kona I Co., Interpay Co. and KTB Solution have decided to file the complaint with the KFTC as early as late this month. The movement is led by Korea Fintech Industry Association (KORFIN). Apple’s policy to limit the NFC function to its Apple Pay may be in violation of local laws on consumer protection, they argue.

“The companies have been in talks with consumer advocacy groups to overcome technical constraints in bringing the petition under the name of the association,” said Lee Seung-gun, chairman of KORFIN, adding, “due to Apple’s closed policy, consumers should not be deprived of opportunities to enjoy various fintech services.”

The NFC function has been placed in iPhone 6 models but this feature is used exclusively for Apple Pay. Apple`s lockdown on its programming interface (API) is denying Korean customers` access to NFC services such as mobile payment, mobile transport cards and identification of credit card users. Meanwhile, rival Samsung Electronics Co. opened its NFC function to external apps, allowing many other apps than Samsung Pay to be available.

Fintech company eB Card has developed an NFC-based mobile transport card but Apple’s closed policy forced it to offer the service to Android phone users only. Another company Kona I also developed a mobile payment app utilizing NFC but the app does not work on iPhone smartphones.

“Consumers have rights to enjoy NFC-based services but Korean consumers cannot use the services even though they purchased the same type of iPhones as those in the U.S. and this is a nonsense,” said Hwan Seung-ik, CEO of Hankook NFC.

By Chung Ji-sung

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