Australian Banks Hold Back on Apple Pay Support Due to Fees

Nearly ten months after Apple Pay launched in the United States, an increasing number of retailers including Rite Aid and Best Buy have reversed course and announced support for the mobile payments service.

Nevertheless, the United Kingdom is the only country that Apple Pay has expanded to since last October due to roadblocks from major banks and financial institutions in other countries.

Australia may offer a few clues as to why the international rollout of Apple Pay has taken so long, as The Sydney Morning Herald this week reported that its parent company Fairfax Media believes big banks in the country are unwilling to allow Apple to share a portion of the $2 billion interchange fees they collect from merchants each year in return for use of payment infrastructure.

In the United States, Apple is believed to earn about 15¢ on every $100 of transactions. It is understood Apple has been asking for the same amount of interchange fee in Australia.

But Australia’s big banks will not agree to this level given that interchange fees in Australia are about half the US level – equivalent to an average of 50¢ $100 of transaction compared with about $1 for $100 of transaction fees in the US.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief executive Ian Narev opined that Apple Pay’s launch in Australia will not be as easy compared to the United States because tap-to-pay transactions are already possible in the country. Narev says that his bank — and many others in Australia — implemented the underlying technology for Apple Pay between 18 months and two years ago.

Mr Narev said CBA had already offered the same functionality as Apple Pay through its app – for users of Android phones – for two years, so it was difficult for Apple to argue it is providing much value. In the US, Apple Pay was innovative because tap-and-go was not a feature of that market.

The report claims that Australian banks are also withholding Apple Pay support due to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the country’s central bank and banknote issuing authority, forcing the financial institutions to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the New Payments Platform, a “fast, versatile, data-rich payments system” that businesses will connect to for accepting low-value payments.

As well as being fast, the NPP will be versatile. The basic infrastructure will support various “overlay” services – specially tailored services which individual financial institutions may choose to offer their customers.

This multi-layered infrastructure has been designed to promote competition and drive innovation in payment services. It ensures the NPP will be equipped to meet the evolving needs of Australians in the digital age – and beyond.

Beyond Australia, Apple is planning to launch Apple Pay in Canada in November, according to The Wall Street Journal. The mid-April report claimed that six Canadian banks were in talks with Apple, including the Royal Bank of Canada, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, CIBC and the National Bank of Canada. Meanwhile, Apple Pay faces similar roadblocks in China related to fees and market control.

How to Move Your Playlists from Spotify to Apple Music

We’ve been experimenting with Apple Music for over a month now, but there are still a few important questions that pop up with the new music streaming service, the first being “How can I import my playlists from Spotify?”

The short answer is that you can’t without using third-party software. After much research, we’ve found there are two fairly reliable third-party services that work well. One is called STAMP, and the other is called Move to Apple Music. Both automatically search for and add tracks from Spotify to Apple Music so you don’t have to manually go through your entire collection song-by-song. While the end result is pretty much the same, each app offers different features.

Before you get started, make sure you are logged into iTunes with your Apple ID and subscribed to Apple Music.

With both STAMP and Move to Apple Music, you can download the program from each company’s website. Both apps must be given special permission to control your computer.
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German Carriers Preparing for September 18 iPhone 6s Launch

Two of the three major mobile providers in Germany are said to be preparing for an iPhone 6s launch on Friday, September 18, reports German Apple news site Macerkopf [Google Translate]. Carriers expect the iPhone 6s to be available for purchase beginning on that date, which is in line with previous rumors and past launch timelines.

Earlier this month, BuzzFeed‘s John Packzkowski, who has reliably predicted several Apple event dates in the past, said Apple would hold its iPhone 6 launch event on Wednesday, September 9. After launch events, Apple typically accepts pre-orders on the Friday of the event week, before starting to ship orders on the following week.

If Apple accepts iPhone 6s pre-orders, we can expect them to become available beginning on September 11, with the iPhone then shipping out to customers on September 18, as cited by German carriers. It is not yet clear if Apple will be allowing pre-orders for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

For the iPhone 6, Apple introduced the device on Tuesday, September 9, began accepting pre-orders on Friday, September 12, and then launched the device on Friday, September 19. It appears the iPhone 6s will follow a very similar launch timeline.

As for iOS 9, Apple often releases the operating system a few days before the iPhone becomes available, suggesting we could see a public launch on Wednesday, September 16.

Apple’s iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are expected to include an A9 processor, 2GB RAM, Force Touch capabilities, and an improved camera. While the devices will be the same size as the iPhone 6 and 6s Plus, there may be a small increase in thickness and height to accommodate Force Touch and internal material and structural changes designed to make the devices less prone to bending.