Another day, another nail in the coffin for the on-going battle between Australia’s big banks and tech giant Apple over Apple Pay.
As of today, Bank Australia has joined ranks with the 32 other banks who offer Apple Pay.
Australia’s first customer owned bank, Bank Australia has nearly 130,000 customers around the country and says that 60% of them use Apple devices when accessing their digital banking services via mobile.
Apple recently doubled down on its decision to restrict use of the NFC chip in their iPhone handset, telling the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that the Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are acting like a “hardcore cartel” seeking to delay the full arrival of the Apple Pay mobile payments system in the Australian market.
Expect the matter to develop later in the month when the ACCC decides whether to empower the CBA, NAB, Westpac and Bendigo to collectively negotiate with Apple.