SYDNEY, Sept. 23 Reuters: The Commonwealth Bank of Australia the largest lender accused Apple Inc of unethical behaviour over control of payments on its phones which have grown to about a third of all consumers payments on Thursday.
The remarks come after Apple told the Australian Financial Review newspaper this month that it was reviewing whether Apple's iPhone architecture violated competition laws.
Matt Comyn, chief executive at the Sydney-based bank, urged lawmakers to boost scrutiny of technology giants, saying payments through digital wallets developed by Apple and Google formed about 45% of all consumer payments.
If Apple is pro-competition, I think, the claim is good as long as one accepts that competition is welcome as long as no one can compete with Apple, Sorman told a regular parliamentary committee.
The bank has been calling for Apple to download the Near Field Communication NFC chip, giving its own data that the firm captures 80% of transactions recorded via telephone digital wallets.
Apple, which requires banks to process all contactless payments through its digital wallet and pay an undisclosed fee, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
It is analogous to imagine a world where, on your Apple phone, the only person who could determine which carrier you used is Apple, Comyn added.
Last month the tech giant told a senate inquiry that its Apple Pay app was commercially competitive and accused companies urging further scrutiny of its products of doing this for their own gain The inquiry findings have not been published.
On Thursday, a representative of competition regulator said it would not be providing running commentary on its investigations.
Unlike Apple, search giant Google allows third parties and banks to access its NFC chip.