ANZ wades into mobile payments as Aussie banks continue to resist Apple Pay

It seems the mobile payments space will continue to get busier and more fragmented before it  (inevitably) consolidates, with Australian bank ANZ the latest to launch its own contactless payments service. The firm just unveiled  its ANZ Mobile Pay app for Android devices, which enables customers to tap their phone to make payments and withdraw cash from contactless-enabled ANZ ATMs. Users can add their existing ANZ Visa and American Express credit and debit cards.

The move makes it just the latest Australian bank to launch a mobile payment app, with Commonwealth Bank offering a tap and pay service since 2013, Westpac and NAB all offering mobile payments in their mobile apps. While Barclays recently became just the latest UK bank to partner up with Apple Pay, in Australia the Silicon Valley tech giant is struggling to gain traction with domestic banks. In fact, American Express is currently the only credit card Apple Pay users can pay with in the country.

Can ATMs save Apple Pay?

 

Contactless down under

Australia is a comparatively mature market when it comes to contactless payments, with a study from RFi Group last year claiming two thirds of Australians are aware they own a contactless payment card and that 53 per cent have made a contactless transaction. The report claimed this made the country the top globally in terms of contactless payments, followed by Singapore and then Taiwan.

Meanwhile, a study by Galaxy commissioned by MasterCard in December last year claimed 66 per cent of polled Australians said they prefer to use tap-and-go payments for transactions under $100 to entering their pin. With 64 per cent saying they prefer contactless to cash as convenience and speed spurs the adoption of the technology and pushes contactless deeper into the mainstream in Australia.

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