On Tuesday, Apple announced new figures related to the App Store’s ability to protect app developers and consumers from fraud. The company said it has prevented more than $9 billion in fraudulent transactions over the past five years. In 2024, Apple halted $2 billion in fraudulent transactions and blocked nearly 2 million high-risk app submissions from being published.
The release of these metrics is not intended to highlight the benefits of selling software on the App Store just days before Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025). It also serves as a strict reminder of what developers will face when they try to go alone with mobile payments.
After Fortnite Maker Epic Games successY won a high-stakes legal battle with Apple over the App Store’s antitrust issue last month. Apple was forced to provide Apple developers with the ability to link to alternative payment methods within the app.
Larger apps like Fortnite, Spotify and Amazon Kindle quickly took advantage of new features, but small app developers may still be on the fence about whether it makes financial sense to process their payments for the risk of fraud, chargebacks, refunds and other issues that Apple’s App Store deals in exchange for the 15%-30% committee.
Apple has demonstrated the scale of its operation, preventing more than $2 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2024 alone, living in 175 regions around the world, and seeing an average of over 813 million visitors per week.
The iPhone maker also reminded developers that Transaction Fraud is not the only risk Apple protects. Bad actors try to misuse users in other ways, such as stealing personal data, creating fraudulent accounts, or pirated apps.
Apple said it had terminated more than 146,000 developer accounts in 2024 over fraud concerns and rejected an additional 139,000 developer registrations from bad actors. It also refused to create more than 7111 million customer accounts and deactivated nearly 129 million customer accounts last year. It also blocked over 10,000 illegal apps that contain prominent versions of malware, porn apps, gambling apps, and famous versions of developers’ legal apps in scam transactions, and blocked nearly 2 million high-risk app submissions.
Under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, people in the region are permitted to access alternative app stores that host app types that Apple’s policies do not allow, or apps that want to sell themselves to users outside of Apple’s control for other reasons. Apple’s message to developers here suggests that these app stores are where the developer’s own software is being resold in pirated versions and where it is at risk.
The company also said it has stopped nearly 4.6 million attempts to install or launch apps outside the App Store or other approved third-party market.
Apple has long used the argument that App Store commissions not only process payments, but also provide security, hosting, distribution and discovery, as well as blocking fraud, not just processing payments.
This is a compelling case for small app developers, including those who already pay 15% of the committee as part of Apple’s Small Business Program. In fact, initial data from RevenueCat, which provides subscription infrastructure to developers, shows that small businesses rarely make financial profits by switching to their own payment systems.
In its announcement, Apple reviewed other aspects of the App Store business and how it can benefit consumers and developers, and share more detailed metrics, focusing on app reviews, discovery scams, payments, credit card scams, and more.
Combining these numbers is designed to remind developers why they should choose App Store in a market that is not the only way to reach users or monetize their mobile apps.
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