Australia bank CEO mocks Apple's claim of being pro-competition

Posted:
in General Discussion
The head of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has ridiculed Apple for its claim to be pro-competition in its dealings over Apple Pay in the country.

Adding a credit card to Apple Pay
Adding a credit card to Apple Pay


Australia's antitrust regulator is considering requiring Apple to support rivals to Apple Pay. Now Matt Comyn, CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has accused Apple of being anticompetitive.

According to Reuters, Comyn told a parliamentary committee that he believes lawmakers should boost their scrutiny of Apple and other technology giants.

"[The] claim that Apple is pro-competition, I think, is a fair statement," Comyn said, "as long as one accepts that competition is welcome as long as no one can compete with Apple."

"It is analogous to imagine a world today where, on your Apple phone, the only person that could determine which carrier you used is Apple," he continued.

Speaking to the same committee, Shayne Elliott of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, disagreed with Comyn.

"It's kind of ironic," Elliott said, "one of Australia's biggest companies complaining about having to deal with other big competitors."

The discussions with the parliamentary committee come as the Australian government reportedly wants to reclassify technology firms as payment systems. The intention is to then apply the latter classification's more strict regulatory controls.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    Does Comyn think it's anticompetitive to allow only one operating system on the iPhone? Why or why not?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 10
    That’s pretty rich coming from the CEO of one of the big four banks.


    "It is analogous to imagine a world today where, on your Apple phone, the only person that could determine which carrier you used is Apple," he continued.

    I don’t think that is a meaningful analogy. Besides, I seem to remember certain banks wanting to collude in not adopting Apple Pay and force customers to only use their own version, which of course wasn’t as good.  
    edited September 2021 h2pwilliamlondonmattinozwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 3 of 10
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    entropys said:
    That’s pretty rich coming from the CEO of one of the big four banks.


    "It is analogous to imagine a world today where, on your Apple phone, the only person that could determine which carrier you used is Apple," he continued.

    I don’t think that is a meaningful analogy. Besides, I seem to remember certain banks wanting to collude in not adopting Apple Pay and force customers to only use their own version, which of course wasn’t as good.  
    There were a couple different ones, but the only one I can think of right now is CurrentC. The market spoke and it crashed and burned. It’s a ridiculous analogy. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 10
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    You can compete with Apple Pay by supporting Google/Samsung Pay on Android, and by issuing contactless credit/debit cards.  I often find myself on the opposite side from Apple in these issues, but this one just shrieks of massively monied men whining that they can't get all the money, and fuck that.
    beowulfschmidtwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 5 of 10
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    I'd add to all the above comments, he should not confuse Apple's dislike of its IP being ripped off with being competed with. He should also check for how well it has worked out for those that mocked Apple in the past.
    edited September 2021 williamlondonwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 6 of 10
    Japhey said:
    entropys said:
    That’s pretty rich coming from the CEO of one of the big four banks.


    "It is analogous to imagine a world today where, on your Apple phone, the only person that could determine which carrier you used is Apple," he continued.

    I don’t think that is a meaningful analogy. Besides, I seem to remember certain banks wanting to collude in not adopting Apple Pay and force customers to only use their own version, which of course wasn’t as good.  
    There were a couple different ones, but the only one I can think of right now is CurrentC. The market spoke and it crashed and burned. It’s a ridiculous analogy. 
    No, you are thinking of something else. Current C was a bunch of retailers in the U.S. getting together and forming a competitor to Apple Pay and it was headed by Walmart and Best Buy. Japhey was referring to something that was going on specifically in Australia where the big banks were trying to prevent Apple Pay from being used in that country.
    h2pwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 7 of 10
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    Japhey said:
    entropys said:
    That’s pretty rich coming from the CEO of one of the big four banks.


    "It is analogous to imagine a world today where, on your Apple phone, the only person that could determine which carrier you used is Apple," he continued.

    I don’t think that is a meaningful analogy. Besides, I seem to remember certain banks wanting to collude in not adopting Apple Pay and force customers to only use their own version, which of course wasn’t as good.  
    There were a couple different ones, but the only one I can think of right now is CurrentC. The market spoke and it crashed and burned. It’s a ridiculous analogy. 
    No, you are thinking of something else. Current C was a bunch of retailers in the U.S. getting together and forming a competitor to Apple Pay and it was headed by Walmart and Best Buy. Japhey was referring to something that was going on specifically in Australia where the big banks were trying to prevent Apple Pay from being used in that country.
    Oh, that’s right. I must have misread the original post. Thanks. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 10
    Oh the irony, coming from Comm Bank who are amongst the biggest anti-competitive banks, who constantly collude to make themselves richer. They force out competition or buy it up so the customer still gets a bad deal. Take a good look in the mirror Matt Comyn you may not like what you find.
    williamlondonGeorgeBMacmattinozwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 9 of 10
    laytech said:
    Oh the irony, coming from Comm Bank who are amongst the biggest anti-competitive banks, who constantly collude to make themselves richer. They force out competition or buy it up so the customer still gets a bad deal. Take a good look in the mirror Matt Comyn you may not like what you find.
    Yes this is a bank that held off integrating Apple or Google wallet systems and instead asked customers to pay more for a supplementary card as a sticker to put on your phone. That is before we get in to all the dodgy and shady stuff exposed by the Banking Royal Commission they are still begging and leaning on friendly politicians to slow down or stop the need to deal with it. 

    They have been bested technologically they want to whine that they got disrupted and now need to provide the service they sell. 
    watto_cobrawilliamlondonjony0
  • Reply 10 of 10
    I’m glad I switched to ANZ (the other bank mentioned) for Apple Pay way back when. 
    williamlondonjony0
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