Apple blasts CBA, NAB and Westpac for forming a ‘cartel’ against Apple Pay

Apple has lashed out at three of Australia’s biggest banks for refusing Apply Pay and attempting to access iPhone’s digital wallet access. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp want their own digital wallets access on iOS, but Apple has argued against it.

The three banks have appealed to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to allow them to challenge Apple’s monopoly of its iPhone digital wallet. They want the ACCC to intervene on their behalf and force Apple to open the access to its NFC antenna.

Apple doesn’t want to do that, saying it would compromise the security of its smartphone system. In a letter response to ACCC’s invitation to express its views, the company said it would not allow external parties to determine its hardware and software decisions.

“Apple strongly urges the Commission to reject the request of the applicants for interim authorisation,” it wrote in the letter. “If granted, the request would harm consumers, lead to less competition and less innovation, and create troubling precedent.”

It explained that the banks have little knowledge into Apple Pay or Apple’s terms, citing a case wherein one unnamed applicant bank has refused to enter into a confidentiality agreement with the company before participating in Apple Pay,

The banks, which Apple claimed have formed a “cartel” against it, have threatened to collectively boycott the service. As Digital Trends explains, the banks do not want to forfeit the millions of dollars they would earn through interchange fees, which would go to Apple. Hence, they want the Cupertino, California, company to bend to their terms, which would therefore allow them to charge people who use Apple Pay.

“Now they ask the ACCC for explicit permission to negotiate with Apple as a collective group. The goal of which is to force Apple and other third party providers to accept their terms, allow them to charge consumers that choose to use Apple Pay, and force Apple to undermine the security of its mobile payment service by opening access to the NFC antenna, placing at risk the consumer experience of a simple, secure and private way to make payments in store, within applications, or on the web.”

ACCC plans to announce a decision on NFC next month, but Apple wants to delay it to accommodate the 6-month statutory period for assessment. Apple Pay is available in Australia through ANZ, the only bank that entered a deal with the company. It is understood that ANZ shares its interchange fees with Apple, although the terms of their contract are not disclosed.