Aussie Banks Snub Apple
Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and National Australia Bank teamed up to build their own mobile payments and wallets app in Australia.
Three of the «big four» Australian banks, who have been locked in a long and divisive dispute with Apple, have formed a joint venture to introduce a new payment app called Beem.
A spat broke out between Apple Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Westpac, and National Australia Bank (NAB) after the banks accused the tech giant of acting against the interests of customers in a row over collective bargaining rights for Near Field Communication (NFC) access to iPhones.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) eventually stepped in and issued a determination denying authorisation to CBA, Westpac and NAB to collectively bargain with Apple and collectively boycott Apple Pay. To date ANZ, is the only major bank that has signed up to Apple Pay, and has not joined the new alliance.
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Beem, which will be available later this year, is touted by the banks as a simple and convenient free app enabling anyone to make an instant payment using their smartphone, and request payment from someone who owes them money or to split a bill. The hope is that it will become an industry-wide payment solution, and is open to interest from other banks, industry, and retail players.
The new app will work on both iOS and Android smartphones, and will be compatible across devices and different banks – users won’t need to be customers of CBA or Westpac or NAB.
The joint venture will be independently run, with a mandate to actively seek new participants to join the initial three participants. Future product initiatives beyond the payments facility are being planned, including digital wallet features and capabilities.
