David Glance, University of Western Australia
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has denied four of Australia’s banks an interim authorisation to act collectively against Apple and other third party wallet providers (Samsung and Google) in Australia.
In essence, the banks asked the ACCC to allow them to collectively negotiate with Apple over the terms of its electronic payment system Apple Pay. They have argued that Apple is stifling competition by not allowing banks direct access to the NFC wireless functionality in the iPhone so that they can create their own “digital wallets”.
The ACCC has decided not to grant their request, instead it has stated that it needs more time and more consultation before it makes a decision. [Read more…] about Why the ACCC siding with the banks against Apple will not be in consumers’ interests