The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has slapped down an application by Australian banks to work together against Apple's Apple Pay. So what's next?
So far ANZ is the only bank to have embraced the Cupertino based tech giant while its peer group has instead been fighting a losing battle against the pervasive mobile payments system.
ANZ rolled out Apple Pay to more than 500,000 customers with a Mastercard credit card, following an earlier release to its five million debit card holders in April 2016.
Tit For Tat
A spat broke out between Apple and some of Australia's largest banks last year and has grown increasingly inflamed.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corporation, National Australia Bank, and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank accused Apple of acting against the interests of customers.
Apple fired back accusing the banks 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.
End of The Story?
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a determination denying authorisation to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corporation, National Australia Bank, and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (the banks) to collectively bargain with Apple and collectively boycott Apple Pay.
“The ACCC is not satisfied, on balance, that the likely benefits from the proposed conduct outweigh the likely detriments. We are concerned that the proposed conduct is likely to reduce or distort competition in a number of markets,” said Rod Sims, ACCC Chairman.
The decision means customers of those banks will remain without access to touch-and-go payments on their iPhones until each bank reaches an agreement with Apple individually.
