Aussie banks narrow focus of Apple Pay dispute to tech access

Sydney

A CONSORTIUM of Australia's biggest banks has abandoned its attempt to negotiate as a bloc with Apple Inc over the cost of using its mobile payment system, narrowing its claim to focus solely on access to a key piece of iPhone technology.

In their final submission to the competition regulator, the banks hit back at earlier claims by Apple that the dispute was fundamentally an attempt to "delay or even block" the expansion of Apple Pay into Australia. Apple's "conspiracy theories" are "fantasy", the banks said in an accompanying e-mailed statement on Monday.