NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Apple has responded to a request to regulators by four major Australian banks to jointly negotiate terms for their adoption of Apple Pay and to boycott participation during the negotiations with a strongly worded letter, branding the group’s proposed action worthy of a “cartel” that would “harm consumers, lead to less competition and less innovation and set a troubling precedent.”
The four banks, which include three of Australia’s big four financial institutions, filed the request to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission July 26, and last week were joined by a fifth bank, Heritage Bank, the country’s largest mutual bank and largest prepaid card issuer.
The banks argue that they need the weight of multiple banks to counter what they consider to be Apple’s excessive clout to dictate terms for Apple Pay.
