By Matt Siegel
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's three biggest banks, including no. 1 lender National Australia Bank (NAB) (AX:NAB), on Wednesday said they had lodged a joint application with anti-trust regulators seeking approval to collectively negotiate with Apple Inc (O:AAPL) to install their own electronic payments applications on iPhones.
Apple, which operates its own Apple Pay mobile wallet, does not allow third-party electronic payment apps to be loaded onto to the hugely popular smartphones. A spokesman for the banks told Reuters their view is that position amounts to anti-competitive behavior.
The country's second-biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AX:CBA), and number three, Westpac Banking Corp (AX:WBC), teamed up with NAB to file the application with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
A spokeswoman for Apple in Australia wasn't immediately available to comment.