Apple’s third-party payment proposal isn’t enough for Dutch regulators

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to 9to5Mac and the Coalition for App Fairness, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets has rejected Apple's proposed changes to the App Store that would allow dating app developers to use third-party payment systems. The Dutch regulator ordered the change in December and has been going back and forth with the company over how it should be implemented. Further penalties could be faced by Apple.

According to a journalist, Apple's most recent proposal for letting developers use third-party payment systems is an improvement over its previous ideas.

The proposal Apple submitted on March 27th said that dating app developers could use either a third-party payment system or Apple's, and that they would have to warn users if they were about to interact with a system. The same is true if the developer sends users to complete a purchase.

Apple said that developers using alternative payment systems would still owe the company a 27 percent commission on in-app sales, compared to the 30 percent it takes from most in-app payments using its own system. If the developers made less than $1 million in revenue, that would be unfavorable compared to Apple's Small Business Program rate of 15 percent.

The only people affected by the order should have to submit separate versions of their apps. The previous proposal was rejected by the regulators, so the requirement was dropped in March.

The company was fined $55 million by the ACM in late March. If it found that Apple's proposal wasn't enough, it could impose another order subject to periodic penalty payments. The company was charged up to a maximum of 50 million dollars per week if it didn't comply. The originals did not have the desired result, so the regulators are working on additional penalties now that the cap has been reached.

The Coalition for App Fairness is happy with the decision. Match Group, which makes dating apps such as Match.com and OkCupid, is one of the companies that is opposed to the App Store's high fees and role as the singular place to get software. Even as Apple continues to dig in its heels, the group said that it stands ready to support the ACM as it continues to seek fair treatment and remedies for developers.

The coalition said that Apple imposed unnecessary requirements in order to discourage dating app developers from taking advantage of the order.