Australia's Commonwealth Bank to Support Apple Pay Starting Next Month

[MacRumors]

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) today announced that next month it will become the second of Australia's "Big Four" banks to support Apple Pay, ceding to customer demand after a multi-year dispute with Apple over fees and access to the NFC chip in iPhones. CBA is the largest retail bank in Australia and has long been a notable holdout from Apple Pay.

Angus Sullivan, Group Executive of Retail Banking Services, said: "We recently wrote to our customers asking them what the bank could do differently and we received lots of excellent suggestions.

"One of the things we heard repeatedly from our customers is that they want Apple Pay and we're delighted to be making it available in January 2019.

"We are committed to making changes that benefit our customers and simplify our business. We will continue to look for more opportunities to innovate and listen, to ensure our customers get the best experience when they bank with us. Responding to customer demand for Apple Pay underscores our commitment to becoming a better, simpler bank.

Three of the Big Four banks (Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and Westpac) attempted to engage in collective bargaining with Apple in an effort to force Apple to open up the iPhone's NFC capabilities to support other digital wallets such as those offered by the banks themselves.

Apple argued that the banks' stance was harmful to consumers and stifling innovation, and Australian regulators agreed with Apple, denying the banks authorization for collective bargaining.

ANZ was the only the one of the Big Four banks in Australia willing to engage in talks with Apple over Apple Pay support, and the bank launched Apple Pay in April 2016. Dozens of smaller Australian banks later followed suit, but the remaining three major banks continued their holdout until today's announcement from Commonwealth.

Article Link: Australia's Commonwealth Bank to Support Apple Pay Starting Next Month

 

[martyjmclean]

Too late CommBank, I happily switched to ANZ. I'm also happy not paying account fees.

 

[Junior117]

Well now that this has happened,... what made them think they would've won this dispute in the first place?

 

[TheHammer]

Yep too late, switched to ING. Took both mortgages with me too

 

[mauriziocorso77]

This has made my WEEK! I am so happy. I opened up another bank account JUST so I could use the convenience of Apple Pay. So Happy.

 

[tehStickMan]

I'm CBA customer and this is ABOUT DAMN TIME!

I've gotten another two cards with different banks just to get some on Apple Pay. Finally I can have my main bank on it.

Although, with the closing of AMEX companion cards, and lacklustre award point earning, I'm not sure my main business will remain on CBA ccards...

 

[Lozza013]

About time. Now hopefully NAB and Westpac give up their pathetic stances. I feel that shouldn't take too long.

 

[djam]

Yep too late, switched to ING. Took both mortgages with me too

Likewise.

Although, with the closing of AMEX companion cards, and lacklustre award point earning, I'm not sure my main business will remain on CBA ccards...

Also a factor in my decision. Not to mention the loss of fee free international purchases. And the findings from the Royal Commission into banks was pretty damming of the big banks here.

 

[nnobles]

I solved this nearly a year ago by getting a Pixel2 XL. Then open NFC chip and Google Pay didn't have any restrictions and I could add my cards and loyalty programs too.

This is way too late.

 

[MacFanBoi]

To little to late CBA. I switched to ANZ a few months after anz offered Apple Pay since none of the other big banks wanted to agree to apples terms they aren’t banks I was interested in dealing with.

 

[cablecartman]

I'm CBA customer and this is ABOUT DAMN TIME!

I've gotten another two cards with different banks just to get some on Apple Pay. Finally I can have my main bank on it.

Although, with the closing of AMEX companion cards, and lacklustre award point earning, I'm not sure my main business will remain on CBA ccards...

Lacklustre doesn’t begin to describe it. Their most premium card earns Qantas points at less than half the rate as the competition.

 

[mpainesyd]

Gave up with CommBank. I did try ANZ so I could have Applepay but switched to Bank Australia after reviewing options. I am happy with that move after seeing the big bank practices revealed in the banking royal commission. Bank Australia has some admirable ethical standards.

 

[R10k]

Too late for me too - I switched to ING and am very happy I did.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Now hopefully the Swiss competition office’s review of a suspected banking Kartell’s collusion to block Apple Pay will expose a situation that will come to a quick end.

Truly ridiculous that aside from a few small banks and boutique prepaid or credit cards, none of the big or midsized banks in Switzerland or Liechtenstein (forget the little banks) offer any kind of Apple Pay service.

 

[ItzJordan]

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) today announced that next month it will become the second of Australia's "Big Four" banks to support Apple Pay, ceding to customer demand after a multi-year dispute with Apple over fees and access to the NFC chip in iPhones. CBA is the largest retail bank in Australia and has long been a notable holdout from Apple Pay.

Three of the Big Four banks (Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and Westpac) attempted to engage in collective bargaining with Apple in an effort to force Apple to open up the iPhone's NFC capabilities to support other digital wallets such as those offered by the banks themselves.

Apple argued that the banks' stance was harmful to consumers and stifling innovation, and Australian regulators agreed with Apple, denying the banks authorization for collective bargaining.

ANZ was the only the one of the Big Four banks in Australia willing to engage in talks with Apple over Apple Pay support, and the bank launched Apple Pay in April 2016. Dozens of smaller Australian banks later followed suit, but the remaining three major banks continued their holdout until today's announcement from Commonwealth.

Article Link: Australia's Commonwealth Bank to Support Apple Pay Starting Next Month

Bankwest, a subsidy of Commonwealth Australia, also announced it will be supporting Apple Pay in January 2019.

 

[mrow]

Does Australia not allow foreign banks to offer retail banking services there? Were these “big four” really the only option for most people? It seems like the real problem here is limited competition and banks that seem more than happy to collude to limit competition.

 

[Lozza013]

Does Australia not allow foreign banks to offer retail banking services there? Were these “big four” really the only option for most people? It seems like the real problem here is limited competition and banks that seem more than happy to collude to limit competition.

No then Treasuer Paul Keating under many reforms to Australia's Financial Sector allowed foreign banks to operate in Australia in 1984. We now have banks such as HSBC,Citibank and ING operating in Australia. Although most Australians are not proactive and stick with the Big Four Banks. Keep in mind the Commonwealth was owned by the government until 1991 when it was Privatized by again Paul Keating.

 

[Aussi3]

This is amazing news!!

 

[Yumbo]

ING has many attractive options, but being reduced.
HSBC is also good with points and perks.

Switched away from NAB and BankSA.

 

[danny842003]

Great news, I was really considering a switch to ANZ but just couldn’t be bothered with the hassle.

 

[rmoliv]

Nevermind...

 

[Smigit]

Very happy. With CBA and not too worried about the lackluster rewards given I do 90% of my card purchases on my Amex which has better rewards than any other banks IMO anyway. Will be good though to have Apple Pay available for those 10% of purchases I can't put on my Amex.

 

[-BigMac-]

Bankwest, a subsidy of Commonwealth Australia, also announced it will be supporting Apple Pay in January 2019.

I reckon all 12 of their customers will be stoked

 

[fozz3d]

3+ years too little, too late. It has taken all this time to bring out a survey and acknowledge what the customers want. Geeez. I wonder what is going to happen with "Beam" they are all developing, to spite Apple Pay.

 

[danny842003]

3+ years too little, too late. It has taken all this time to bring out a survey and acknowledge what the customers want. Geeez. I wonder what is going to happen with "Beam" they are all developing, to spite Apple Pay.

Too little too late? Not really they still have heaps of customers who will be more than happy to have it.