Politico - Why Apple’s DOJ fight is big for banks

Senior legal director Daniel Hanley was quoted for commenting on the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple in highlighting fairness for consumers.

“By seeking to end Apple’s coercive practices, the government aims to ensure that consumers have access to non-Apple alternatives and to spur Apple to compete through fair and honest means,” he told Politico.

The Justice Department’s antitrust case against Apple may end up being one of the most important finance industry sagas of the year. It’s a crackdown that some in the banking world are quietly cheering on.

At issue in the lawsuit is whether the tech giant is acting as a monopoly and hurting consumers through the restrictions it places on the functionality of the iPhone.

The DOJ challenge is poised to be a sleeper finance industry shakeup because of the massive role that Apple has come to play in payments with its Wallet and Apple Pay services.

Apple’s forays into finance are just a few of the practices that prosecutors are targeting. They’re also singling out how the company handles competition in messaging, cloud streaming and smartwatches.

The Justice Department is accusing Apple of restricting the development of third-party digital wallets, including those that can take advantage of the iPhone’s tap-to-pay functionality. The government says the practice makes it harder for users to switch phones and that it allows the company to extract 15-basis-point fees from banks for each credit card transaction on Apple Pay. The fees, according to DOJ, “cut into funding for features and benefits that banks might otherwise offer smartphone users.”

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