Ever since the iPhone 6 came around, Apple has been incorporating NFC into its iPhones, but so far it remained exclusive to Apple Pay for mobile contactless payments. Now a court ruling passed in Germany will force all "operators of electronic money infrastructure" to grant third party mobile wallet apps access for a "reasonable fee". While Apple was not distinctively mentioned in the new legislation it is without a doubt the big target here. The new legislation which was passed by a German parliamentary committee will, in turn, open up NFC payments to competing mobile wallet apps...
Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/new_german_ruling_forces_apple_to_grant_third_party_mobile_wallets_nfc_use_on_iphones-news-40125.php
