Your iPhone gets a choice: First alternative to Apple Wallet ready to arrive in Europe

Reputable media The Times, out of the UK, says Apple’s still ironing out some technical kinks, but once that’s done, British company Curve claims it is good to go and launch its competing Wallet app right away.

The London fintech company is revving up to launch the first real challenger to Apple Wallet. It will be the first full-fledged alternative once Apple finishes the switch and lets other apps use the iPhone’s NFC chip for payments, as required by the EU’s law. Curve says this change will save banks millions of euros they currently fork over to Apple in transaction fees.

Curve says it will be the first to launch an alternative to Apple Wallet, but rumors are swirling that other companies are working on their own options, too, like the Nordic firm Vipps MobilePay. It’s important to note that, for now, these alternative wallets will only be available for iPhone users in Europe.

However, back in March, the Department of Justice went after Apple, claiming the company created a monopoly with the iPhone. DOJ argues that Apple’s dominance in the smartphone market makes it tough for others to create alternative digital wallets because they wouldn’t reach many iPhone users. With such investigations into Apple’s business practices heating up, we might see some changes in the US, as well.