Commonwealth Bank says “time is of the essence” for the Reserve Bank’s new powers to regulate Apple.

CBA has urged the federal government to target big tech platforms entering the financial services sector to ensure they face the same rules as banks and other payment providers.

CBA claims that payments with digital wallets on smartphones are now more popular in Australia than many other countries, in a submission to the Senate economics committee published on Tuesday afternoon.

CBA is calling for policymakers to get on the front foot.

The submission to the committee’s inquiry into the influence of international digital platforms pointed to possible anticompetitive conduct by big tech, including “anticompetitive self-preferencing, anticompetitive tying, and unreasonably preventing consumer switching”.

“In ensuring platforms that provide financial services in Australia are appropriately regulated, time is of the essence,” CBA said.

“Creating an environment where digital platforms are able to avoid regulation could see a hollowing out of domestic industry.”

Banks remain concerned that Apple Pay, Apple’s digital wallet, restricts their apps from making “tap and go” payments directly, reducing banking app functionality. 

Banks are also concerned about the growing level of fees they pay to Apple under contractual agreements that digitise their payment cards into Apple Pay. Those fees are surging as mobile phone payments continue to rise. 

Banks want Apple to be forced to invest in local payments infrastructure in the way banks do.

CBA suggests that industry-based codes of conduct under consideration by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in its digital platforms inquiry should adopt “activity based” regulation to ensure the tech platforms adhere to the principle of “same activity, same regulation” when they operate in financial services.

CBA has called for third parties such as itself to have “reasonable and equivalent” access to the near-field communications (NFC) chip on the iPhone, also recommended by the ACCC. This would allow its customers to pay in-store directly from its banking app.

“The government’s announcement that digital wallets would be part of any new payments regulatory framework was encouraging and could go a long way to achieving this outcome,” CBA said in its latest submission, dated April 26.

After a recommendation from a review into the payments system for Treasury by lawyer Scott Farrell, the federal government said on December 13 that it would update the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act to ensure the Reserve Bank could “regulate new and emerging payment systems, such as digital wallet providers”.

The following day, RBA governor Philip Lowe said the new powers could be used to investigate whether restrictions that Apple places on bank access to its digital wallet Apple Pay were anticompetitive.

But almost five months later, draft legislation has not been produced for consultation. Banks hope that after the federal budget, payment policy will be a focus before parliament’s winter recess.

Almost two years have elapsed since CBA chief executive Matt Comyn went to Canberra and called on legislators to regulate Apple Pay.