Australia's largest banks versus Apple; there's no contest.
Apple was always going to be a winner. It is certainly a strange twist that, even if three of our large banks had been allowed to band together to negotiate, they would still have been the David rather than the Goliath.
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Banks, Apple in stoush over digital wallets
A draft decision from the ACCC denies several of the big banks from negotiating as a bloc with Apple for access to its NFC technology.
They had sought, but on Friday failed, to get the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to allow them to collectively deal with Apple in an attempt to get access to iPhones' near-field communication controller - which is akin to its internal antenna.
As far as Apple is concerned, this is its proprietary stuff and the world's biggest company has never been one for sharing.
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It hasn't let any other bank around the world into this tent and it's frankly fairly strange that the Commonwealth Bank, the National Australia Bank, Westpac (plus a couple of smaller banks) thought that, even together, they could muscle in.
In essence, the ACCC thought a deal between the banks and Apple would be anti-competitive.
This is not to say that the banks can't sign up for Apple Pay. They can and ANZ already has.
They key difference is that ANZ has paid Apple to allow its cards to be used via the Apple Pay app. In other words, ANZ's card is allowed to communicate with Apple's app and enable the phone to operate as a tap-and-go payment mechanism.
The other banks were seeking access to the Apple's antenna inside the iPhone so they could use their own bank apps and their own digital wallets on the iPhone - which is not surprising given they have spent billions developing them. In this case, the iPhone would just become a conduit.
And, as importantly, Apple Pay is more expensive because it takes a fee on all transactions it is used for.
Unlike Apple, Google's Android phones offer open access and allow banks' proprietary apps but Australians are big iPhone users so there is plenty of pressure from customers who want to use their iPhone instead of carrying around plastic in their wallets.
The question is whether the banks without Apple Pay will have no choice but to go back to the negotiating table.
It's a fair bet that the answer will be yes.
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