In its submission, published by the ACCC today, the banks said “mobile payment apps other than Apple Pay are not available on Apple devices in any of these countries, even though many participating banks had already developed their own mobile payment apps for other platforms and hoped to make them available on the iPhone”.
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The banks want to be granted the right to collectively negotiate with the OEM for installing third-party electronic payment apps on iPhones.
A number of banks in Australia have shut the proverbial door on Apple Pay after an application was made to the country’s competition commission for them to negotiate with third party payment companies.
Australia’s banks were also understood to be reluctant to let Apple infiltrate a market which earns them around AU$2 billion ($1.4 billion) annually in interchange fees.
The application is generically worded, but very much targeted at Apple, which excludes any mobile payment app outside of its Apple Pay being loaded onto its iPhone, which is believed to account for about 40 per cent of Australia’s smart phone market. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is a smaller lender that has joined the big financial names in their application. At this point, all the banks have done is sought approval to jointly negotiate with Apple for access to the NFC chip. For Apple, the payments app offers a possibly profitable brand-new stream of income from services and software application as iPhone sales retreat – on Tuesday it reported a 15 percent drop in sale of the gadget.
Novantas Senior Advisor Lance Blockley, speaking on behalf of the banks says this is about providing Australians with “real choice and better outcomes”.
ANZ did not respond to a request for comment, while CBA, Westpac and NAB declined to add to Mr Blockley’s comments.
The service was rolled out in Australia in April this year, when Australia and New Zealand Bank allowed its American Express and Visa cardholders to use the service.
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The objective of the banks here is to reach a deal with Apple that would allow them to use their own mobile payment solution on top of the NFC technology in iPhones and other smartphones. To use Apple Pay, customers pay for products and services by holding hold their iPhones over unique Apple payment terminals, along with vending machines that accept contactless payments.
