What you need to know
- The Australian government is again considering whether Apple Pay and other digital wallets require more oversight.
- Australia is pondering whether Apple and other companies should be classed as payment providers. As of now, they aren't.
Classifying Apple as a payment provider would put Apple Pay under more scrutiny.
Australia is again considering changing the way it deals with Apple Pay and similar payment systems and digital wallets, according to a new report.
According to Reuters, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg intends to "carefully consider" whether tightened regulation is needed — currently, Apple and similar digital wallet providers are not classed as payment providers, limiting oversight.
Services such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and China's WeChat Pay, which have grown rapidly in recent years, are not currently designated as payment systems, putting them outside the regulatory system.
That has left some Australians concerned that the country is no longer in control of its own payment infrastructure and could instead end up reliant on companies it has no control over — like Apple, Google, and others. By reclassifying technology companies as payment providers, Australia could reclaim some of its control. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) released a report earlier this month that said the country needs to "urgently get to grips with the growing influence of" companies like Apple.
The Australian report recommended the government be given the power to designate tech companies as payment providers, clarifying the regulatory status of digital wallets.
The use of Apple Pay and similar wallets continues to grow across Australia, with a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) report noting that payment via such wallets has increased to 8% as of 2019, an increase from the 2% in 2016. It's difficult to believe that it won't have increased yet further since.