IBS Journal January 2016


ANZ teams with Google to bring Android Pay to Australia


ANZ HQ, Melbourne © TK, Wikipedia


Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, will offer Google’s Android Pay to its customers for contactless payments. The service will be available by mid- 2016, and ANZ debit and credit cardhold- ers in Australia will be able to use Android Pay to make purchases. ANZ managing director products


and marketing, Matt Boss, says: ‘This is an important milestone in the evolution of the mobile payments landscape and Google’s decision to make Australia one of the first markets after the United States to imple- ment Android Pay demonstrates how quick Australians adopt new technologies.’ He adds that Australians are ‘already the highest users of contactless payments in the world’ and that Android dominates the local smartphone market. ANZ also confirmed that it will be launching its own mobile wallet for Android in the first quarter of 2016. ANZ says more than 60% of all card


transactions in Australia are now con- tactless and accepted across a network in excess of 70% contactless merchant pay- ment terminals.


Apple grapples The deal is a setback for Apple, which earli- er this year ran into a fight in Australia as it attempted to forge a way into the country’s


18


payments industry. Australia’s banks were understood to


be reluctant to let Apple infiltrate a mar- ket which earns them around AU$2 billion ($1.4 billion) annually in interchange fees. The computing giant is believed to earn around 15 cents for every $100 of transac- tions in the US and was looking to earn the same in Australia. The banks are unwilling to accept this rate as they pay roughly half the level of those paid in the US. Apple Pay launched in the US in 2014 and in the UK in July 2015. The system can’t operate in a new region without Apple first reaching an agreement with the area’s banks. According to the Sydney Morning Her-


ald, ‘Australian banks have snubbed Apple in favour of Google as six declared on Tues- day [15th December] they will go with Android Pay in the first half of 2016, while Apple is salvaging its bid to grab a share of the banks’ dwindling merchant card fees.’ The Sydney Morning Herald adds


that in addition to ANZ, Westpac – and its subsidiaries Bank of Melbourne, Bank of South Australia and St George – Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, ING Direct, Macquarie Bank and Cuscal, which is a card issuer and processor for 70 lenders, will be the first to offer Visa, MasterCard and eftpos on Android Pay.


© IBS Intelligence 2016 www.ibsintelligence.com


Apple Pay partially got round this


rebuff by working with American Express in Australia. The service will be switched on for iPhones,


Apple Watches and iPads, but only American Express card holders will be able to use it. The launch in Australia follows a rollout


in Canada in November. Spain, Hong Kong and Singapore will follow suit in 2016. Any retailer that accepts Amex con-


tactless payments will accept payments on iPhones loaded with Amex card credentials.


Battle royale Google and Apple are locked in a fierce battle for global dominance. Recently, Google began rolling out its


Android Pay system in the US, squaring up to major competitor Apple in the contact- less mobile payments sphere. All US mobile carriers are on board


with the project, while American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa have enabled their cards via the service. Android Pay is Google’s answer to


Apple’s Apple Pay system and the second time the California-based manufacturer has attempted this type of project. Google Wallet, released in 2011, failed to take off – mainly due to a reluctance on the part of banks and telecoms companies. Antony Peyton


digital round-up


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