ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb has vowed to investigate digital payment providers, following court proceedings against Mastercard over its dealings with retailers.
In her keynote address at the AFR Banking Summit 2022, Cass-Gottlieb said the watchdog's digital platform services inquiry has identified concerns in tap-and-go and app payment providers.
"The ACCC’s reports have highlighted economies of scale, network effects and vertical integration as common characteristics of digital platform services that can contribute to market power," she said.
"Along with the expansion of digital ecosystems, the competitive advantages arising from superior access to user data and a lack of transparency all create an environment where digital platforms may exercise power across multiple services.
"As competition agencies across the globe are well aware, this can involve a range of anti-competitive practices, such as self-preferencing, tying, bundling and refusals to deal."
The ACCC alleges one area where Apple engages in self-preferencing and restriction of competitor access to functionality is in its reservation of tap-and-go, contactless payments using the NFC chip on Apple mobile devices to its own Apple Pay app and Apple wallet.
"The ACCC’s inquiry has also reported that Apple and Google’s respective control over the App Store and Play Store enables each of them to impose terms that prevent app developers from using alternative payment systems for in app payments," she said.
The ACCC’s fifth report in its Digital Platform Services Inquiry, which is to be delivered to the Government in September this year, will look at whether there is a need for a new regulatory framework to address these concerns.