Apple may be making some headway in negotiations with Australian banks over its mobile payment platform. According to a new report from iPhone in Canada, some Australians who have recently tried to upload their payment cards to Apple Pay have received Apple Pay setup verification texts from their banks.
No official statements of support have yet come from Australia’s major banks, but these latest developments complement rumors are circulating that Bank Australia and Suncrop Bank are planning to launch Apple Pay support in the second half of this year. Meanwhile, former ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) Cards and Payments executive Marj Demmer left that bank to join Australia’s Apple Pay division last autumn. Moreover, the fact that Android Pay came to terms with some major Australian banks toward the end of last year may also suggest a warming attitude toward mPayments among the country’s banks (though that platform, too, has yet to launch in Australia).
These signs could signal the approaching end of what has been a contentious fight that has largely revolved around fees, with Apple having sought from the banks a larger slice of their transaction fees than they’ve been willing to offer. The dispute has even turned political, with at least one prominent politician having suggested that the banks’ opposition to the mPayment platform could be anti-competitive. It isn’t clear if that kind of pressure has helped to push the banks toward a resolution, or if Apple has altered its fee demands, but in any case it looks like Australians should soon get more access to the platform beyond the American Express card support in place now.
Source: iPhone in Canada
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