Tech giant Apple is accusing three of Australia's big four banks of pushing the costs of Apple Pay on to their customers, delaying the expansion of the service to 70 percent of Australian card holders.
In its submission supporting last year’s draft ruling by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), released late last week, Apple said the banks’ refusal to negotiate with it during the process was «evidence of the chilling effect of the proposed collective conduct on competition through innovation enjoyed by 3,500 banks to millions of consumers in over 13 countries».
It said the banks’ application is fundamentally about the banks avoiding paying Apple fees for the use of Apple Pay to avoid competition for their own proprietary wallets.
Last year ANZ jumped ship and is currently the only one of the big four banks to agree to terms with Apple to allow its account holders to use Apple Pay services.
Banks Getting Free Ride
Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank offer no mobile phone payment service and Westpac has just started offering an Android service.
Apple argues its service increases competition between the banks because customers can download different bank applications on their phone and can easily use one or the other when paying for an item.
The banks, it argues, would prefer to just issue their own app, which locks the customer into its services.
The banks are due to respond to the ACCC draft in the coming weeks.
«The only benefit that would accrue to the banks is a purely private benefit where they would be allowed to continue to free ride on Apple», the tech firm said.
