Apple has signalled to Brazil's competition authority that it is willing to reach a settlement allowing free Pix proximity payments on iPhones.
The CADE investigation into Apple's control over the iPhone's NFC chip began in April 2025, focusing on whether the company's practices constitute anticompetitive conduct in Brazil's digital payments market. A further inquiry was opened on March 2026 to examine whether Apple holds a dominant position in the proximity payments segment on iOS devices.
The core of the dispute lies in how Apple controls access to the NFC chip on its devices. On Android devices, NFC access is open to any developer. On the iPhone, all communication with the chip and the Secure Element must pass through Apple Pay or the NFC & SE platform, both of which are subject to per-transaction fees. In addition, because Pix was designed as a fee-free system, financial institutions consider it commercially unviable to absorb the charge Apple requires to make the functionality available.
The asymmetry has drawn attention from Brazilian banks and fintechs. Among those raising complaints with CADE are Nubank, Mercado Pago, PicPay, and PayPal, all of which Apple described in its February 2026 defence filing as having a direct economic interest in reducing their own costs.
Apple's defence and the scale question
In a submission to CADE in February 2026, Apple argued that its hardware architecture offers a higher level of security than solutions adopted in other operating systems. The company also sought to contextualise the scope of the issue through transaction volumes. Moreover, data cited by Apple showed that Pix by proximity recorded 1.05 million transactions in January 2026, compared with 2.7 billion transactions via dynamic QR code in the same period. On that basis, Apple argued the NFC modality does not yet represent an essential consumer demand in Brazil.
Apple also noted that the iPhone accounts for approximately 10% of the smartphone market in Brazil, using this figure to contest the characterisation of its position as monopolistic
Implications for Brazil's payments market
Should an agreement be reached, the iPhone would offer an experience closer to that already available on Android devices, where financial institutions can provide proximity payments without additional costs tied to NFC access.
The case carries broader regulatory significance. A CADE decision could influence how proprietary platforms control access to their payment systems more widely. Separately, Pix has also come under scrutiny from the US, which included the payment system in a trade investigation questioning Brazil's digital practices; the Brazilian government has responded by arguing the system is neutral and does not create competitive barriers.
Whether Apple and CADE formalise a settlement remains to be confirmed. For now, the reported shift in Apple's position marks a notable development in a regulatory standoff that has shaped the terms of mobile payments access in one of the world's largest instant payments markets.
