The European antitrust regulator is accused AppleThe company could be forced to restrict the access to its payment system to competitors, or face a huge fine.

According to the European Commission in press releaseApple was informed Monday by the company that it “informed Apple about its preliminary views that it had misused its dominant position on markets for mobile wallets in iOS devices.”

While the Commission’s statement of objections to Apple highlights possible antitrust violations in Europe, it doesn’t necessarily decide the end result of the investigation. Apple will have an opportunity to read and reply to the Commission’s findings.

In a letter to the Commission it stated that Apple had impeded competition in the market for mobile wallets on the iPhone Operating System by severely restricting technology used to make contactless payments (NFC).

Margrethe Vestager was the competition chief and executive vice-president of the Commission. She stated that in their Statement of Objections we had preliminarily concluded that Apple might have limited competition to Apple Pay. If confirmed, this conduct would be illegal according to our competition rules.

According to the Commission, Apple’s refusal to allow third-party developers to mobile wallets to access its NFC technology “has an exclusionary impact on competitors” and results in less innovation for iPhone users who want mobile wallets.

“Apple Pay is only one of many options available to European consumers for making payments, and has ensured equal access to NFC while setting industry-leading standards for privacy and security,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to engage with the Commission to ensure European consumers have access to the payment option of their choice in a safe and secure environment.”

Apple was also concerned that Apple could make payments less secure by making changes to the system.

This is the Commission separately probedApple’s guidelines for iOS developers who are interested in distributing apps to iOS. Europe recently also came to an agreement on new rulesThe Digital Markets Act seeks to limit the power of digital platforms as gatekeepers for key services.

The U.S. lawmakers have also looked into Apple’s app developer treatment and suggested new rules to require Apple to make it easier for rivals to create apps on their phones.

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