Slashdot Mirror
Apple is 'Intransigent, Closed and Controlling' Say Banks (afr.com)
Apple is increasingly trying to get banks to implement its Apple Pay mobile payments solutions, but some banks are avoiding Cupertino giant's offer, saying that the company is "closed and controlling". From a report on Financial Review: Three of Australia's big four banks have described technology giant Apple as being "intransigent, closed and controlling" and accused it of attempting to freeload on their contactless payments infrastructure while slowing innovation in digital wallets. In an increasingly acrimonious dispute, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corp and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are arguing that the engineering of Apple iPhones prevent them from delivering mobile wallets to millions of customers. This is because Apple Pay is the only application that works with the iPhone's "near field communication" (NFC) antenna, which communicates with payment terminals. In their latest, 137-page submission filed with the competition regulator, the banks argue that by locking them out, "Apple is seeking for itself the exclusive use of Australia's existing NFC terminal infrastructure for the making of integrated mobile payments using iOS devices. Yet, this infrastructure was built and paid for by Australian banks and merchants for the benefit of all Australians."
>Yet, this infrastructure was built and paid for by Australian banks and merchants for the benefit of all Australians."
Bullshit. The infrastructure was paid for by merchants buying the equipment.
Banks have shown themselves incapable of passing on the reduced costs of electronic transactions to consumers and incapable of deploying secure payment schemes. This particular scuffle is everything to do with banks wanting to keep all the 2-5% transactions fees rather than share it with a phone vendor who has developed moderately secure payment hardware that is in the hands of millions of people.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
1. Yes, although they as well as most reasonable people realize that smaller institutions and even many large institutions will leverage the software acumen of third parties.
2. Whoever is at fault.
3. Banks and their partner corporations have been developing software for the management of financial transaction far longer than Apple has existed. Software did exist before the iPhone ya' know.