Apple Pay magic refuses to work in Australia
Apple Pay now apparently represents 75% of all contactless payments in the U.S. In an earnings call with media and investors on Tuesday 26th July, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Pay user numbers jumped 450 percent last month from a year earlier, but as usual the company is refusing to give out actual total number of users.
With the service currently available in nine countries, Cook says adoption has been “explosive,” and more than half of “transaction volume now coming from non-U.S. markets.” In the U.S., there are now 3 million retail locations that accept Apple Pay. However, still no actual user numbers…
Apple Pay is now currently available in the U.S., the U.K., Switzerland, China, Australia, Canada, France, Singapore, and Hong Kong with Spain opening up in the very near future. I’ve also mentioned in past editorials that Apple will be launching the service on Macs in the final quarter of the year, when MacOS Sierra and iOS 10 are released, and it will also come to the web as a PayPal competitor.
With such a positively spun analyst call you would be forgiven for thinking that everything is plain sailing for Apple but you would be wrong. In fact, a little mutiny is brewing in the land of Oz and it is directed squarely at Apple Pay.
Australia’s three biggest banks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp and National Australia Bank (NAB) have lodged a joint application with anti-trust regulators seeking approval to collectively negotiate with Apple to install their own mobile payment applications on iPhones. Apple does not allow third-party electronic payment apps to be loaded onto its phones because, well, they already have Apple Pay. You know, that amazing, magical mobile payment app from Apple (no user figures available, though…).
The Australian banks are seeking to be able to negotiate jointly for access to Apple‘s phones without themselves being accused of violating anti-competition law. The three banks have resisted signing deals to use Apple Pay and want iPhone users to be able to install the electronic wallet systems they have already developed and financed themselves. They contend that while Apple allows apps on iPhones using other commonplace technology, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, restricting the technology through which mobile wallets function – NFC – constitutes anti-competitive behaviour.
So far, no one is saying anything official about the legal action, but let's wait and see. Certainly Apple can’t allow this to happen. The domino effect could cause serious collateral damage at a time when the country specific rollout is going so fantastically well (no user figures, though…).
And finally, as we roll into silly season, here’s a story we first covered as a one-off last year. The man with the oyster chip in the end of his Harry Potter-esque wand is back. Only this time - he’s making a business out of it - just in time for the latest Harry Potter instalment - ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’. To enable contactless payments, a chip has been embedded in the tip of the wand, which just needs to be tapped or placed near a contactless terminal to process the payment.
It’s entirely up to you if you want to mutter a spell at the same time. Although, if you are already using this method, adding something like ‘Accio!’ is not going to make any difference to how people will see (judge?) you.
There is also a video of the wand in action with the worlds worse Dumbledore stand-in.
Eight Ollivander19 magic payment wands have been created by Card Cutters, specialists in payment terminals, and will work on any purchase up to the value of £30. But these wands are not just going to anyone - after all the wand chooses the wizard - not the other way around. Oh, just go with it - we’re already through the looking glass on this one.
If you think you might be the Chosen One, you can register your interest here. ‘We’re extremely proud to be the first contactless merchant company in the world to launch a product like this, aimed at the wizarding community,’ said Card Cutters director Paul Edwards.
The. Wizarding. Community.
I’ll let that sink in for you business development folks out there looking for new markets.
Steve Atkins
Contactless Intelligence
