Australia: Apple is ‘closed and controlling’ say banks

Three of Australia’s big four banks have described technology giant Apple as being “intransigent, closed and controlling” and accused it of attempting to freeload on their contactless payments infrastructure while slowing innovation in digital wallets.

In an increasingly acrimonious dispute, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corp and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are arguing that the engineering of Apple iPhones prevent them from delivering mobile wallets to millions of customers. This is because Apple Pay is the only application that works with the iPhone’s “near field communication” antenna, which communicates with payment terminals.

In their latest, 137-page submission filed with the competition regulator, the banks argue that by locking them out, “Apple is seeking for itself the exclusive use of Australia’s existing NFC terminal infrastructure for the making of integrated mobile payments using iOS devices. Yet, this infrastructure was built and paid for by Australian banks and merchants for the benefit of all Australians.”

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is expected to decide in November whether the banks can collectively negotiate with Apple, which the banks reckon is the only way that Apple will be forced to reconsider.

Full Content: Financial Review

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