Apple had to relax several of its rules regarding in-app payments, but it will continue to receive its commission.
A few days ago, Apple received a new decision against it. In the Netherlands, the company is now forced to offer alternative payment systems. A decision which currently only concerns dating applications, but which could well be deployed to all the software available on the App Store. Following an increasingly long series, this decision should theoretically allow developers to pay the heavy commission charged by Apple with every transaction, offering their own third-party payment system.
Apple wants a commission on third-party payments
It is in a blog post for developers that Apple has detailed the new measures put in place following the decisions taken by the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). But while we expected to see the Apple tax disappear with the establishment of third-party payment systems – via a redirect link, or an independent platform – the company still seems to want to bet on its 30% margin. Thereby : “dating apps that are allowed to use a third-party payment provider will have to pay Apple a commission on transactions”, says the firm.
Thanks to the new authorizations that will be requested from developers wishing to change the payment system, Apple hopes without keeping control of the applications that pass through its devices, while retaining the biggest slice of a cake that it definitely does not share. many. Note that for the moment, no amount has yet been confirmed on the amount of commissions that will be chargeable to third-party payment platforms. The company simply promised that further information would be “available shortly”.
The position of the Apple is however not new on this subject. Last May, during the trial against Epic Games, the CEO of the company Tim Cook had already defended the advantages of its App Store and the integrated payment system. In particular, he explained that regardless of the methods of payment, he counted “find another way to collect our commission”. Even if it means increasing the pressure on developers, and flirting with the tolerance of international regulators.
