Apple tells Korea Communications Commission "Will allow third-party payments... Submission of June implementation plan"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Apple will allow third-party payments in apps starting from June this year, in addition to Apple’s own payment method, and will reduce the commission fee for this method by 4 percentage points.

According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 5th, Apple recently submitted an implementation plan regarding this matter to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) in relation to the amended Telecommunications Business Act (so-called In-App Payment Mandatory Prohibition Act), which has been in effect since the 15th of last month.

Apple will allow third-party payments within apps and charge a commission fee 4 percentage points lower than the existing in-app payment fee.

Apple, which has so far charged up to 30% commission fees on content apps, is expected to charge a 26% commission fee from June, which is 4 percentage points lower than before.

This is the same approach as Google, which allowed third-party payments and lowered commission rates last December.

However, unlike Google, which displays both third-party payment and in-app payment options on the same screen for users to choose from, Apple is expected to allow content providers to select only one payment method?either third-party payment or in-app payment?to show to users.

Earlier in January this year, Apple told the KCC that it would allow third-party payments and lower commission fees. However, it did not mention specific commission rates or the timing of application.

There was no mention of Apple’s outlink in this plan. Google notified app developers to remove in-app outlinks that connect to external payments. Google also warned that if outlinks are not removed by June 1, the corresponding apps will be removed from the Google Play Store.

Since the KCC issued an authoritative interpretation that Google’s measures may violate the In-App Payment Mandatory Prohibition Act, there is a high possibility that Apple’s recent measures will also be judged as potentially illegal.