NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Apple has expanded its mobile payments service to another small market, with its launch Tuesday in Ireland, but is preparing to launch in a much larger market, Italy.
In each market, Apple has managed to recruit only one major bank, however, while others hold back–either because they want to promote their own wallet apps, are resisting Apple’s demands for transaction fees, fear their brands will be subsumed by Apple’s or a combination of all of these reasons.
Some market observers believe that Apple’s willingness to launch with only one major bank is part of its so-called divide-and-conquer strategy in the markets where banks are trying to present a united front to resist participating in the tech giant’s payments service. Most believe the top priority of these banks is to try to force Apple to lower its fees.
