Apple Pay is not a new thing at all; it quite literally has been around for more than a decade now. But right now, in 2025, you must be hearing about Apple Pay once again, but this time in the headlines and not for the right reasons, actually. See, just to brief you a little bit here, there is this Apple Pay Lawsuit where a Texas-based company is alleging that Apple Pay is built on their technology, and now Apple is using this without their permission. Intrigued enough now? Now let’s get to the actual details.
So, What Were The Things That Intrigued A Lot Of People About This Case?
The first thing that comes to mind is that Apple, the maker of the iPhone, has been targeted with a severe trade secret and racketeering lawsuit by Fintiv. Fintiv alleges that Apple used its technology to create Apple Pay and has been profiting from it for a long time without telling them or taking any permission whatsoever.
The dispute wasn’t just a small one; it was a legal action (or a case if that term suits you better) started in August 2025, at the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. The legal action goes under the name of Fintiv, Inc. v. Apple Inc., and the event is actually the reappearance of an old conflict, the plot being from more than ten years ago, which is why the background is so important here. What, however, were all these things about? It would be nice to have a quick glance at the problem’s starting point.
How Did It All Begin?
In 2011 and 2012, Apple had numerous meetings with CorFire to review a mobile wallet system that eventually resembled Apple Pay. Later down the line, to delve into a possible licensing agreement more efficiently, they mutually agreed to maintain confidentiality in their discussions.
Fintiv claims that Apple opted to go the tech insider know-how route instead of completing the licensing process as agreed. Besides that, the company mentions the fact that Apple recruited employees from CorFire just before the iPhone 2014 launch of Apple Pay. Ultimately, Fintiv became the owner of CorFire, and a thorough check of the facts made them conclude that Apple was the one who used the company’s ideas. As a result, Fintiv decided to file a lawsuit to make these accusations public, and now we’re here with this case.
What’s Fintiv Claiming Exactly?
Fintiv claims that Apple unlawfully utilized its patented technology to drive Apple Pay and, thus, gained the money that flowed to Apple Pay without its consent. According to them, the technology that made Apple Pay’s most important features work was not paid for by Apple. The accusation also brings in RICO activities alongside the U.S. and Georgia RICO statutes, concerning a conspiracy that revolved around Apple Pay.
Basically, Fintiv says that Apple didn’t merely replicate something but that the tech giant created an entire system around that tech. They go so far as to mention Apple’s relationships with the largest banks, such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup, and with card networks like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. The company says that such relationships allowed Apple to generate profits through the contested technology.
What’s Apple Saying?
So far, Apple has not made any public comments about this legal action. This is not the first time that these parties have gone up against each other, and some progress in similar patent conflicts has also been observed.
Just so you know, though, Apple was partially exonerated by a judge in a Fintiv patent lawsuit, as there was a cancellation of the trial that was scheduled for August 4, 2025. That’s the super important detail everybody should know about, and the company, however, mentioned that the Fintiv litigation was still ongoing, as the adversaries had submitted new appeals in the related patent conflicts, which is why there is this extended confrontation.
