Australia's Westpac claims that tech giant Apple has forced the bank to remove a major feature from its iPhone mobile banking app.
The «Westpac Keyboard» feature allowed the bank’s customers to share bank account details and pay individuals from within apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp that allow the use of third-party keyboards.
«We can confirm that the free keyboard feature that enabled customers to transfer money through social media applications will not be included in our next software update in July,» a spokesperson for the Sydney based bank said.
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.
ANZ Embraces Apple
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.
So far only Australia and New Zealand Banking of the big four has done a deal to allow its customers to use Apple Pay.
