The final “Big Four” Australian bank, Westpac, the second largest bank in Australia, has announced support for Apple’s Apple Pay is coming across its various brands by mid-2020.
Clancy Yeates for The Sydney Morning Herald:
The country’s second largest bank on Thursday said the payment service, which effectively allows customers to upload their cards to their phone, is now available for the St George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne brands.
The rollout comes after rivals Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank ushered in Apple Pay earlier this year, following a brawl between Apple and three of the big four banks in 2016 which delayed the widespread introduction of the payment service in Australia. ANZ Bank has been providing Apple Pay since 2016, and it has claimed the service is helping it sell a range of products including home loans, transaction accounts and mortgages.
In 2016, NAB, CBA and Westpac attempted to conduct a collective boycott of Apple Pay in a bid to negotiate as a bloc and squeeze out a better commercial deal from the technology giant. However, the competition watchdog rejected the banks’ request, prompting the banks to each negotiate with Apple individually.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple wins, yet again – luckily for Westpac customers.
Dear Aussie banks: No, you cannot have access to iPhone’s NFC chip. Protecting iOS users’ security is of paramount importance. — MacDailyNews, November 14, 2016