The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Friday local time issued a determination denying the country's big-three banks authorization to collectively negotiate bargain with Apple over access to Apple Pay NFC technology.
Today's decision follows an initial draft determination that denied a proposal to negotiate filed by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp, along with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.
"The ACCC is not satisfied, on balance, that the likely benefits from the proposed conduct outweigh the likely detriments. We are concerned that the proposed conduct is likely to reduce or distort competition in a number of markets," ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
Sims went on to say that while the ACCC acknowledges the fact that granting the banks authorization would put them in a better position to bargain, the "benefits would be outweighed by detriments."
ACCC denies Australian banks to collectively bargain, boycott over Apple Pay
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