The European Union Commission has accepted and legalized Apple's commitment to open up NFC functionality for a valid period of ten years after Apple was accused of abusing its market dominance for exclusive use of NFC functionality for Apple Pay. Apple has now opened up NFC access for free to developers in the European Union and allowed other wallet apps to be set as the default payment app, removing restrictions limited to licensed payment service providers. At the heart of the protocol is access to NFC in host card emulation mode (HCE), with credentials stored in the bank's private cloud rather than in the device's secure element. The move helps address competition concerns and opens the door to multiple payment methods, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). In particular, the European Central Bank (ECB) is developing an offline "credit card payment" feature for the digital euro, requiring access to a phone's secure isolation zone and NFC capabilities. Apple's commitment will help to advance this feature and accelerate the adoption of the digital euro.