Final 'big four' Australian bank folds, announces Apple Pay rollout by mid-2020

Posted:
in General Discussion edited December 2019
Westpac, Australia's second-largest bank, on Thursday announced upcoming support for Apple Pay, making it the last of the country's so-called "big four" banks to adopt Apple's mobile payments solution after holding out for years.




Apple Pay is now available for ancillary brands St George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne, with support from Westpac expected in mid-2020, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Integration with Westpac systems will take longer than its regional offshoots because the financial institution relies on a different banking platform, a spokesperson told the publication. The company decided to roll out Apple Pay at smaller banks first as it works to make the service available as quickly as possible.

"We want to assure Westpac customers we are working to bring them Apple Pay as quickly as possible, while we roll-out the technology across our different banking platforms," said David Lindberg, Westpac's chief executive of consumer banking.

With today's announcement, St George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne customers can provision eligible Visa debit or credit cards with Apple Pay for use in contactless transactions with iPhone or Apple Watch, as well as online purchases.

Westpac is the last "big four" bank to adopt Apple Pay after the bloc attempted to boycott the payments technology in a failed bid for access to iPhone's NFC chip. The banks sought to protect their bargaining position by pushing for the installation of non-Apple Pay software on Apple hardware.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission denied the banks' request in a draft determination in 2016 before issuing a final determination in 2017.

During the standoff, ANZ broke rank and became the first Australian bank to support Apple Pay. After the ACCC denial, Commonwealth Bank of Australia activated support in January of 2019, while the National Australia Bank followed suit in May.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41

    Good! If consumers want something other than Apple Pay, they can buy a different device. Simple.

    StrangeDayslostkiwilolliverrazorpitwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 41
    “We want to assure Westpac customers we are working to bring them Apple Pay as quickly as possible,”

    ...are you tho? Calendar says no, not as quickly as possible at all. 
    edited December 2019 lolliverflyingdpEsquireCatswatto_cobrachia
  • Reply 3 of 41
    So if I can paraphrase Westpac, "We need a further six months so we can be officially four years behind".
    stompychialostkiwilolliverflyingdpRayz2016EsquireCatspscooter63watto_cobraFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 4 of 41
    What I want to know is when are sit-down restaurants in the U.S. gonna get with the program? Nice getting cash back at fast food favorites, but I want to get something back on my fine dining bills where it really matters. Probably have to wait until we catch up with the rest of the world where they bring the wireless terminal right to your table. 
    StrangeDaysflyingdppscooter63lostkiwiwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 41
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    ApplePay needs to be more mainstream at gas stations as well.  They are slowly showing up and I frequent those that do.  I think that is when it will reach critical mass here in the U.S.
    Anilu_777razorpitlostkiwiwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 41
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member

    Good! If consumers want something other than Apple Pay, they can buy a different device. Simple.

    It's at the point in Australia where you're pretty safe to go shopping, eating and clubbing without taking a physical credit card. You can make almost all (if not absolutely all) payments from an Apple watch. Public transport is the hold-out. I guess that competition doesn't exist in the sector, hence the lack of imperative to modernize.
    lolliverkitatitlostkiwiwatto_cobrasteveau
  • Reply 7 of 41
    I've got to agree that Australia has been way ahead with many banking technologies like the cards with the in-built chips a few decades ago and with "tap and go" technologies like ApplePay. I only carry my phone with the driver's license when I go out and that's all I need. Haven't touched cash for years.

    Having said all that, though, "HEY, TIM COOK, CAN WE NOW GET THE ECG FUNCTION ACTIVATED ON OUR APPLE WATCHES DOWN HERE?"


    lolliverkitatitMoorePhotographywatto_cobrasteveau
  • Reply 8 of 41
    What I want to know is when are sit-down restaurants in the U.S. gonna get with the program? Nice getting cash back at fast food favorites, but I want to get something back on my fine dining bills where it really matters. Probably have to wait until we catch up with the rest of the world where they bring the wireless terminal right to your table. 
    They still don’t?? Damn. Then again I was in Texas once and told the waitress I was going to use credit. So she asked for my card then promptly walked away with it! I nearly ran after her until my American friends said that’s normal. They aren’t allowed to take the card out of sight of the customer in Canada. 
    pscooter63lostkiwiwatto_cobrachia
  • Reply 9 of 41

    During the standoff, ANZ broke rank and became the first Australian bank to support Apple Pay. After the ACCC denial, Commonwealth Bank of Australia activated support in January of 2019, while the National Australia Bank followed suit in May.
    This is how I ended up swapping to ANZ. Would be interesting to know how many customers Westpac have lost due to their holdout. Can't imagine any of them will be returning. 
    iqatedo said:

    Good! If consumers want something other than Apple Pay, they can buy a different device. Simple.

    It's at the point in Australia where you're pretty safe to go shopping, eating and clubbing without taking a physical credit card. You can make almost all (if not absolutely all) payments from an Apple watch. Public transport is the hold-out. I guess that competition doesn't exist in the sector, hence the lack of imperative to modernize.

    I haven't had to use a bank card anywhere for a couple of years now. Public Transport/Drivers Licence is the last remaining hurdle for most. But I just keep those cards with my phone. 
    lostkiwi
  • Reply 10 of 41
    Eat *^%# Westpac! I left you 4 months ago. Better mortgage rates elsewhere and now I finally can use ApplePay.... and I love it! 

    You greedy, clueless, cartel wankers! Goodbye 
    flyingdplolliverentropyswatto_cobraJesusHSmithsteveauchiaFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 11 of 41
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    About bloody time. I probably would have gone to ANZ if I hadn’t already been tied to Westpac for so much, and my circumstances changed where I’m now even more tied to them, which is kind of annoying. (Not something I controlled as I would have liked.)

    Still, six months because their infrastructure is ancient. That’s kind of annoying. That their infrastructure is ancient, that is. I’m getting by with my AmEx mostly.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 41
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    “We want to assure Westpac customers we are working to bring them Apple Pay as quickly as possible,”

    ...are you tho? Calendar says no, not as quickly as possible at all. 
    Oh I’m sure the are, now that they’ve notice their customers leaving in droves. 

    We had the same nonsense from Barclays, who didn’t support Apple Pay because they believed their customers would be satisfied with a sticker in the back of their phone. 
    kitatitlostkiwistompywatto_cobrachia
  • Reply 13 of 41
    ktappektappe Posts: 823member
    sflocal said:
    ApplePay needs to be more mainstream at gas stations as well.  They are slowly showing up and I frequent those that do.  I think that is when it will reach critical mass here in the U.S.

    I don't know where you are geographically, but if you're near a Wawa (Philly area and expanding across Florida), they support ApplePay.  I specifically go there for gas as a result, so the rest of the stations that either don't support it (or don't tell me they do) are losing out.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 41
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    ktappe said:
    sflocal said:
    ApplePay needs to be more mainstream at gas stations as well.  They are slowly showing up and I frequent those that do.  I think that is when it will reach critical mass here in the U.S.

    I don't know where you are geographically, but if you're near a Wawa (Philly area and expanding across Florida), they support ApplePay.  I specifically go there for gas as a result, so the rest of the stations that either don't support it (or don't tell me they do) are losing out.
    I’m in San Francisco.  So far, I’ve come across two gas stations in the entire bay area that allows Apple Pay.  None of them are in San Francisco. 
    lostkiwiwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 41
    Rayz2016 said:
    “We want to assure Westpac customers we are working to bring them Apple Pay as quickly as possible,”

    ...are you tho? Calendar says no, not as quickly as possible at all. 
    Oh I’m sure the are, now that they’ve notice their customers leaving in droves. 

    We had the same nonsense from Barclays, who didn’t support Apple Pay because they believed their customers would be satisfied with a sticker in the back of their phone. 

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 41
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    ktappe said:
    sflocal said:
    ApplePay needs to be more mainstream at gas stations as well.  They are slowly showing up and I frequent those that do.  I think that is when it will reach critical mass here in the U.S.

    I don't know where you are geographically, but if you're near a Wawa (Philly area and expanding across Florida), they support ApplePay.  I specifically go there for gas as a result, so the rest of the stations that either don't support it (or don't tell me they do) are losing out.
    I’m in San Francisco.  So far, I’ve come across two gas stations in the entire bay area that allows Apple Pay.  None of them are in San Francisco. 
  • Reply 17 of 41
    The CEO’s of these companies are supposed to have vision, see and understand things us minions can’t. 

    We don’t love you banks, it’s a transactional arrangement. We care much more about our communication devices than our banks. 

    Good on ya Westpac, you’re really on the pulse of what people want. 
    watto_cobrachiaFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 18 of 41
    The title of the article could have been better, "fold" means to go under (end, fail, gone etc) down under. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 41
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    Yes the two big ones for me are my weekly purchases: that’s grocery and gas. Groceries made a quick transition so I’ve choices but here in SE PA gas stations (Wawa) near me have just started the move. 

    as a rule if a brick and mortar location wants my repeat business they’d better accept Apple Pay. 
    lostkiwilolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 41
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    coycub said:
    The title of the article could have been better, "fold" means to go under (end, fail, gone etc) down under. 
    Thank you! I kept skimming past this headline in various news feeds (where it was being truncated) since I’d no real interest in what sort of trouble an Australian bank had found itself in. 
    edited December 2019 watto_cobra
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