BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Thursday accepted Apple's ( AAPL ) offer to open its tap-and-go mobile payments system to rivals to settle a four-year long investigation that could have resulted in a hefty fine for the iPhone maker.

"Apple's ( AAPL ) final commitments would address its competition concerns over Apple's ( AAPL ) restriction of third-party mobile wallet developers' access to NFC payments in stores for EEA iOS users," the European Commission said in a statement.

Apple's ( AAPL ) offer will be valid for 10 years. Its tap-and-go technology called near-field communication, or NFC, allows for contactless payments with mobile wallets.

The company said its offer would give European developers an option to enable tap-and-go payments for car keys, closed loop transit, corporate badges, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty/rewards, and event tickets from within their iOS apps.

The EU competition enforcer two years ago charged Apple ( AAPL ) with hindering competition for its Apple Pay mobile wallet by blocking rival mobile wallets app developers from accessing its tap-and-go technology.