Australia: Apple says banks’ iPhone case is futile

Tech giant Apple has told the competition regulator that attempts by three of Australia’s big banks to access the iPhone’s payments antenna without using the Apple Pay application – for which Apple insists banks must pay a fee – are futile because security and user experience for Apple customers around the globe would be compromised.

In Apple’s latest submission, published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Monday, the technology giant says its “established global position” is that no bank will be given independent access to the iPhone’s “near field communication” (NFC) controller, which allows the phone to conduct contactless payments instead of using a plastic card.

Apple says Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corp and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are acting like a “hard-core cartel” and suggested the real reason for their application is to delay Apple Pay’s arrival in the market in order to direct more customers to their own proprietary digital wallets.

Full Content: Financial Review

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