Description of Conduct

On 26 July 2016, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac (the Applicants) sought authorisation on behalf of themselves and potentially other credit and debit card issuers (the Group Participants) to engage in limited collective negotiation with Apple regarding two issues: (1) access to Apple iPhone's embedded Near-field Communication (NFC) controller, in order for the Group Participants to provide their own digital wallets with embedded NFC on Apple devices without relying on Apple Pay, and (2) to allow their digital wallets to be distributed from Apple's App Store without any unreasonable prohibitions, unreasonable terms, or unreasonable approval delays from Apple. The Applicants also sought authorisation to enter into a limited and voluntary collective boycott in relation to Apple Pay while collective negotiations are ongoing.

On 19 August 2016 the ACCC decided not to grant interim authorisation to the Applicants.

On 29 November 2016 the ACCC issued a draft determination proposing to deny authorisation in respect of the proposed conduct. No pre-decision conference was called.

On 29 November 2016, the ACCC also decided to extend the period to consider the applications for authorisation by three months. The Applicants agreed to this extension on 2 December 2016.

On 31 March 2017, the ACCC issued a determination denying authorisation. A copy of the ACCC's determination including a summary of its reasons is available from the 'ACCC decisions' link below.

Applicant(s)

  • Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited
  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia
  • National Australia Bank Limited
  • Westpac Banking Corporation

Authorisation number(s)

  • A91546
  • A91547

Applications

Document title Date
Received

ACCC correspondence

Document title Date
ACCC to Interested Parties re Final Determination
ACCC to Applicants re Final Determination
ACCC to Applicants re Material Excluded from Public Register
ACCC to Apple Pty Limited re Material Excluded from Public Register
ACCC to Interested Parties re Consultation on Amended Conduct
ACCC to Applicants re Material Excluded from Public Register
ACCC to Apple Pty Limited re Material Excluded from Public Register
Applicants to ACCC re Extension of Relevant Period
ACCC to Applicants re Material Excluded from Public Register
ACCC to Interested Parties re Draft Determination
ACCC to Applicant re Draft Determination
ACCC to Apple Pty Ltd re Material Excluded from Public Register
Applicants to ACCC re Scope of Proposed Conduct
ACCC to Applicants re Material Excluded from Public Register
Applicants to ACCC re Provision of Further Information
ACCC to Applicants re Request for Further Information
ACCC to Applicants re Response to Interested Party Consultation
Applicants to ACCC re Extension of time
Applicant to ACCC re Provision of Further Information
ACCC to Applicants re Request for Further Information
ACCC to Interested Parties re Interim Authorisation
ACCC to Applicant re Interim Authorisation Decision
ACCC to Applicant re Request for Further Information
ACCC to Interested Parties re Consultation Process
ACCC to Applicants re Interested Party Consultation
ACCC to Applicant re Material Excluded from Public Register
Show all documents (23 more)

Submissions - before draft decision

Document title Date
Applicants
Applicants
Matthew Seager
Apple Pty Ltd
John Montagu
Brian Tran
Applicants
David Thornton
FinTech Australia
Brian Tran
Dr David Glance
Joel Hinchcliffe
eftpos Payments Australia Ltd
MasterCard
Dr Grischa Meyer
Dr Andrew Smith
Wayne Pulbrook
Trevor Long
Apple Pty Ltd
Martin Cook
Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
Martin Turner
Heritage Bank Limited
Visa AP (Australia) Pty Ltd
PayPal Australia Pty Ltd
Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd
Bluechain Pty Ltd
Australian Retailers Association
Australian Payments Clearing Association
Jason Discount
Australian Settlements Limited
Small Business Commissioner South Australia
Indue Pty Limited
Apple Pty Limited
Heritage Bank Limited
Tyro Payments Limited
Richard Thorek
Show all documents (34 more)