Apple Pay boss claims Australians will be ‘happy to switch banks’ for the mobile payments service

Apple Pay boss Jennifer Bailey says she believes Australians will be “happy to switch banks” in order to use Apple Pay, while the group of four Australian banks wanting the ability to collectively negotiate with Apple over the introduction of the mobile payments service risks “being left behind” in the development of digital wallets by doing so.

Apple's Jennifer Bailey
WARNING SHOT: Banks risk ‘being left behind’ says Apple Pay’s Jennifer Bailey

The comments made during an interview with The Australian Financial Review follow Apple’s latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) this week, which accuses the banks of using fees on Apple Pay transactions as a “trojan horse” to discourage the use of its mobile payments service and to condition the market to accept transaction fees on digital wallets.

ANZ became the first of the country’s big four banks to begin supporting Apple Pay in September 2016. Some 26% of ANZ customers are now using Apple Pay, and more than 10m transactions have been made on the service since its launch, with Apple users spending 10 times more through their phones than Android users, the Australian Financial Review reports.

ING Direct and Macquarie Bank have become the latest in Australia to announce their support for the mobile payment service this week.

Apple still wants to “work with the banks in Australia to bring Apple Pay to our customers in a way that advantages many of the things they are offering through their banking apps, which we have done already in other markets,” Bailey says.

“That’s why the announcement about these new banks is important and we are continually on that path because, as more banks get on the platform, I think there is more of an industry understanding about how Apple Pay really complements their services.”

The company’s battle with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Bank began in July 2016, when the banks announced their intention to “collectively negotiate” with third-party mobile wallet providers over the introduction of mobile payment services in Australia.

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One comment on this article

  1. One hopes that the ACCC will put the consumer ahead of economic nationalism. One hopes that Apple will put world-wide consumer security ahead of the OZ market.

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