Thousands of U.S. banks and credit unions can now pursue their Apple Pay fee claims together after a federal judge certified their antitrust lawsuit as a class action. The financial institutions accuse Apple of blocking competing tap-to-pay wallets on iPhone while charging card issuers fees for transactions. They argue Apple could impose those fees because rival wallets couldn't compete for contactless payments on the iPhone.

Judge Jeffrey White certified the class on September 23 and rejected Apple's attempt to exclude the plaintiffs' damages expert. The ruling doesn't decide whether Apple violated antitrust law or owes the issuers money. Card issuers pay Apple 0.15% of the value of credit card purchases made through Apple Pay and half a cent for each debit transaction. For example, a $100 credit card purchase through Apple Pay costs the card issuer 15 cents in fees.

Affinity Credit Union, Green State Credit Union, and Consumers Co-op Credit Union filed the lawsuit in 2022. They argue Apple couldn't have sustained its fees with meaningful competition, pointing to Android wallets that don't charge card issuers transaction fees. The lawsuit alleges Apple blocked rival wallets from using the iPhone's contactless payment hardware, leaving Apple Pay as the only option for tap-to-pay transactions.

The certified class covers U.S. entities that issued an Apple Pay-enabled card and paid Apple a fee. The plaintiffs estimate thousands of banks and credit unions qualify. Apple didn't dispute the class size. White found the court can resolve key questions for the entire class, including whether Apple had monopoly power and charged fees that injured issuers.