BRUSSELS, July 11 (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.