https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/venmo-cash-app-users-sue-apple-over-peer-to-peer-payment-fees-2023-11-20/

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Venmo, Cash App users sue Apple over peer-to-peer payment fees

By Mike Scarcella
November 20, 20234:20 PM UTCUpdated ago

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The Apple Inc. logo is seen hanging at the entrance to the Apple
store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 16, 2019.
REUTERS/Mike Segar/

The Apple Inc. logo is seen hanging at the entrance to the Apple
store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 16, 2019.
REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

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Nov 20 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has been sued by Venmo and Cash
App customers in a proposed class action claiming the iPhone maker
abused its market power to curb competition for mobile peer-to-peer
payments, causing consumers to pay "rapidly inflating prices."

Four consumers in New York, Hawaii, South Carolina and Georgia filed
the lawsuit on Friday in San Jose, California, federal court. They
alleged Apple violated U.S. antitrust law through its agreements with
PayPal's (PYPL.O) Venmo and Block's (SQ.N) Cash App.

Apple's agreements limit "feature competition" within peer-to-peer
payment apps, including prohibiting existing or new platforms from
using "decentralized cryptocurrency technology," the complaint said.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction that could force Apple to divest or
segregate its Apple Cash business.

Cupertino, California-based Apple, the only defendant in the case,
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Representatives for PayPal and Block, which were not sued, did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.

The plaintiffs' attorneys at the law firm Bathaee Dunne declined to
comment.

The case adds to Apple's recent antitrust headaches. A U.S. judge in
California in September ruled that payment card issuers can sue Apple
over alleged anticompetitive practices involving its Apple Pay mobile
wallet.

Apple in another case has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an
order in a lawsuit from "Fortnite" video game maker Epic Games
challenging restrictions on in-app payment processing.

Peer-to-peer payments allow one user to send money via a mobile
device directly to the account of another user.

The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit alleged Apple, Venmo and Cash App
"have repeatedly raised prices for transactions and services with no
competitive check."

They argued that a peer-to-peer app based on "decentralized" crypto
technology "would allow iPhone users to send payments to each other
without any intermediary at all."

The lawsuit said Apple has excluded from its App Store at least two
Bitcoin wallet apps, Zeus and Damus, which is backed by Block founder
Jack Dorsey.

The case is Lamartine Pierre et al v. Apple Inc, U.S. District Court,
Northern District of California, No. Case 5:23-cv-05981.

For plaintiffs: Yavar Bathaee and Brian Dunne of Bathaee Dunne

For Apple: No appearance yet

Read more:

PayPal sued in US consumer case over 'industry-high' transaction fees

Apple asks US Supreme Court to strike down Epic Games order

Apple is ordered to face Apple Pay antitrust lawsuit

Get the latest legal news of the day delivered straight to your inbox
with The Afternoon Docket.

Reporting by Mike Scarcella

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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