New RBA powers to regulate Apple, Google payments
The Albanese government is moving to regulate Apple Pay, Google Pay and other new digital payment services by expanding the Reserve Bank’s powers, with draft legislation to be released on Wednesday.
The bill will allow the RBA to regulate digital wallet providers in the same way as credit card networks and other types of transactions. The Treasurer will also get a new designation power to order regulatory oversight in the national interest.
The government will release draft legislation on Wednesday to allow the RBA to regulate digital wallets such as Apple Pay. Josh Robenstone
The government said this would address risks posed by new digital payment services – currently unregulated – to “protect consumers, promote competition and spur innovation”.
Former RBA governor Philip Lowe and Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn have backed the expanded law, as recommended by lawyer Scott Farrell’s payments system review for Treasury in August 2021. They could allow the RBA to regulate pricing, access rules and request data from the technology companies.
Mr Comyn told a parliamentary hearing in July 2021 that Apple was free-riding on banks’ investments in payments infrastructure and its rules around banks’ access to iPhones to make tap-and-go payments could be anticompetitive.
In June, the CBA boss likened Apple to a “gatekeeper”, similar to Standard Oil early last century and Microsoft in the late 1990s, which were ultimately targeted by antitrust actions. Dr Lowe said last December the new powers might be used to investigate banks’ access to the Apple Pay wallet.
Figures from the Australian Banking Association show nearly two-thirds of people aged between 18 and 29 use mobile payments, with payments using smartphones
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