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Apple will fix tech-glitch to benefit TWINT

A person uses the Twint payment app on a smartphone
Twint is Switzerland's digital cash. Keystone

Switzerland’s Competition Commission announced on Tuesday that Apple has agreed to come up with a more competitive technical solution to the benefit of Swiss payment method TWINT.

The automatic activation of Apple Pay at payment terminals can interrupt payments made by the TWINT application, noted the commission.

“Following the intervention of the COMCO Secretariat, Apple has committed itself to offer a more competitive technical solution,” it said in a statement.

  + The battle over mobile payments

Apple offers Apple Pay as a mobile payment solution for its products, including the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple devices and their applications are configured to automatically start Apple Pay when they are near a contactless payment terminal to allow payment with Apple Pay.

To pay with TWINT, users of this application scan a QR code that appears on the payment terminal screen. Until now, when a customer wanted to make a payment with TWINT using an Apple device, the Apple Pay application could start automatically, which could interrupt the payment process with the TWINT application.

Apple has made a commitment to Switzerland’s Competitive Commission to offer a technical solution that would prevent Apple Pay from automatically starting during the payment process with the TWINT application.

Taking this step would end a preliminary investigation against Apple, the commission said.

  + Busy watchdog: Financial institutions raided over mobile pay deals

Last month, the commission searched the premises of Credit Suisse and UBS, PostFinance and the credit card companies Swisscard and Aduno for allegedly boycotting mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.  

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