The news
A federal judge in California on September 23, 2026 certified a class of U.S. card issuers in an Apple Pay antitrust lawsuit, allowing banks and credit unions that paid Apple (AAPL) fees on Apple Pay transactions to pursue their claims together.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California signed an order granting the plaintiffs' motion for class certification and denying a motion to exclude the testimony of Christopher Vellturo, an expert witness in the case, according to the court docket. The order was entered on September 24. The case, Affinity Credit Union v. Apple Inc., was filed on July 18, 2022. Affinity Credit Union, Consumers Co-Op Credit Union and GreenState Credit Union are the named plaintiffs in recent filings.
The certified class covers any U.S. entity that issued an Apple Pay-enabled payment card and paid Apple a fee for Apple Pay transactions on that card, MacRumors reported. The plaintiffs allege that Apple blocks rival wallets from the iPhone's near-field communication (NFC) chip, the short-range radio used for contactless payments, making Apple Pay the only tap-to-pay option on the device.
According to the complaint as described by MacRumors, Apple charges issuers 0.15% on credit card transactions and half a cent per debit transaction, collecting up to $1 billion a year. The suit contrasts that with Google's Android, which it says supports multiple wallets and charges card issuers no fee for contactless payments. The plaintiffs seek repayment of fees and an injunction ending the policies.
Apple has since loosened its grip on the chip: starting with iOS 18.1, it lets developers use NFC for payments in several countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K., MacRumors noted. The report did not include a comment from Apple on the class ruling.
The numbers
- Apple Pay fee on credit transactions (alleged)
- 0.15%
- Apple Pay fee on debit transactions (alleged)
- Half a cent per transaction
- Annual fees Apple allegedly collects
- Up to $1 billion
- Case filed
- July 18, 2022
- Opening expert reports due
- January 22, 2027
Why CEOs should care
For CFOs and payments chiefs at banks, credit unions and card-issuing fintechs, class certification means you are probably now a class member if you paid Apple Pay issuer fees. Expect a formal class notice. Before it arrives, pull records of Apple Pay fees paid since launch, review the confidentiality and dispute terms in your Apple Pay agreements, and decide with counsel whether to remain in the class or opt out to pursue your own claim. Large issuers with sizable fee histories should model both paths.
For digital wallet strategy, the case and Apple's iOS 18.1 change point the same way: exclusive access to the iPhone's payment hardware is weakening. Issuers and fintechs that shelved their own tap-to-pay wallets for iPhone should revisit the business case, including what share of cardholders would switch, what it costs to certify and support a wallet, and how Apple's current NFC terms compare with the fees they currently pay on Apple Pay.
For boards and investors, the ruling raises the stakes for Apple's services business. Class status aggregates claims that individual issuers might not have pursued, and the judge declined to exclude the expert testimony that was challenged alongside the certification motion. Directors of issuers should ask management how any recovery would be accounted for, and whether pending litigation should shape renewal negotiations with Apple.
The bigger picture
The ruling adds to a busy legal stretch for Apple. Two days later, on September 25, a federal jury in the Southern District of California found that Apple's Taptic Engine infringed patents held by Taction Technology and awarded about $5.7 billion, a verdict Apple says it will appeal. Both cases reflect a wider push by partners and rivals to challenge the economics of Apple's control over the iPhone. For payments companies, the Apple Pay case is the more direct test, because it goes to the fees that issuers pay on every tap.
What’s next
The case now moves into expert discovery. Under a schedule the court approved on September 10, opening expert reports are due January 22, 2027, rebuttal reports April 21, 2027, and replies June 4, 2027. Watch for Apple to seek permission to appeal the class certification order, and for the class notice process that tells issuers how to opt out.
What “Fact-checked” means
Fact-checking means testing a story’s facts against the evidence before it is published. This story went through at least two separate checks before this version was published.
- What we checked
- Its names, figures, dates, job titles, quotes and who said what were checked against the story’s sources, including its main source where it could be opened. The headline was checked for accuracy and overstatement.
- How
- A first check reviewed the whole story. If it passed, a second, skeptical check went back to the sources to look for mistakes in the most important facts. If a check flagged the story, it was edited to fix the problems found, and a separate re-check then reviewed the whole story again.
- Who
- The checks are made by our newsroom, as steps kept separate from the writing, under rules set by our editor, Hussein Mukhtar. A story the checks still flag is held for the editor, who decides whether it is fixed, published or dropped.
- If something is wrong
- “Fact-checked” does not mean error-free. If a material error is found after publication, we correct the story and add a note saying what changed. Report an error
Companies in this story
