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Australia's Retailers Join the Local Giant Banks in Their Battle With Apple Pay (nfcworld.com)
More trouble for Apple in Down Under. The $300 billion retail sector has hit back at Apple, saying the global tech giant is trying to freeload on the payments infrastructure built by banks and retailers and restricting iPhone access to payments terminals will hinder loyalty schemes. From a report: The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has come out in support of the group of four Australian banks seeking stronger negotiation powers with Apple over the introduction of Apple Pay in the country, saying they believe access to the NFC functionality in the iPhone would allow retailers to provide "a richer and more convenient customer experience." The ARA, which represents 5,000 independent and national retailers, says access to the NFC functionality will allow retailers to "develop or participate in mobile wallets that provided a consistent and fully integrated experience to all users regardless of their choice of smartphones" while also allowing loyalty programs, coupons and rewards to be "more effectively integrated into these mobile wallets." "In our view -- for as long as Apple Pay remains the only app that can use the iPhone's NFC functionality -- the potential for innovation in mobile wallets and mobile payments will be limited," the ARA says in a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Apple Pay does not cost the merchants a thing. It also does not keep them from using loyalty cards and such. I have such a loyalty card from Walgreens. It's in my Apple Phone with my credit cards. When I'm checking out it pops up and I scan it and then swipe to a credit card and scan it to pay. Walgreen's gets their data, I get points/ discounts and Apple Pay securely handles the transaction. I only need my watch to pay. So why can't these merchants just copy what Walgreen's does? If they they don't know how then I also don't trust them to secure my credit card information so I'm glad I use Apple Pay. The merchants and these banks don't want customer freedom or choice. They want more control over the customer. I don't trust them to secure my information or credit card information so I don't want them to be able to bypass Apple's security. Target? TJ Maxx? Kohls? Home Depot? All kinds of stores have had major breaches.
Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
>>A competition commission cannot say its anti-competitive for incumbents to block Apple Pay but its not anti-competitive for
>> Apple to not allow access to the NFC chip in an iPhone.
I usually find it's a mistake to give analysis in situations when I have NFI what I'm talking about :).
It isn't "anti-competative for the incumbents to block AP." Nobody is blocking AP. Australia is not like the US. a) There is a reasonably strong consumer protection agency (ACCC). b) There aren't billions of banks... there are really five big ones. The banks asked for an exception to cartel laws so they could gang together and negotiate as one. They were told no. For banks that don't have a strong history of protecting consumers, that doesn't seem terrible. Some banks have already signed on to AP. Some haven't. That's how these things are supposed to work.
They don't have to sign on to Apple Pay. Apple doesn't have to give them access to their hardware. Where is the problem?
(As an aside, Australia isn't as pre-historic as the US when it comes to credit cards. Mag stripe is *not* a thing. *Everybody* has already rolled out contactless payments. So as a customer, AP has much less of a benefit. If you put your credit card in your phone case, the only difference is you don't get the fingerprint authentication.)