The European Commission (EC) was reportedly close to approving an Apple proposal to open its tap-to-pay technology to rivals after the tech giant amended some of the terms.

Reuters reported the EC could approve the plan as early as May, as Apple looks to avoid potential fines of up to 10 per cent of its global annual turnover.

The news agency reported Apple was tasked with changing some of the terms after receiving feedback from customers and rivals.

In May 2022, the regulator outlined a preliminary view Apple had abused its position by restricting rival mobile wallets on iOS devices.

This year, the iPhone-maker proposed offering third-party access to its NFC-based payment system through a set of APIs free of charge, offering developers the option to access the technology without using Apple’s own payment or wallet services.

Apple’s ten-year plan would include establishing an independent dispute settlement mechanism to review any decisions to block access to NFC, which would be reported to the EC.

The company was fined €1.8 billion last month for alleged uncompetitive behaviour towards music streaming service Spotify.