ACCC gives green light to Stadium Australia Visa monopoly; but knocks back Woolies ePump plan.
What changed Graeme Samuel's mind? Late last year the ACCC chief said that a Visa PayWave monopoly plan for Stadium Australia was anti-competitive and not in the public interest.
But last week, Samuel approved the plan. And, at least on first inspection, it looks very much like the ACCC caved in to a Stadium Australia 'dummy spit' 
Thats because, after Stadium Australia got the news of the ACCC's draft decision, it told the ACCC that if didn’t get the approval it wanted, then the stadium operator wouldn’t install the
terminals and no one would be able to pay by credit-card.
That threat is the only reason eCommerce Report could find in the ACCC's final decision, as to what changed its mind.
“Since the draft notice, the ACCC has obtained further information which indicates that the exclusive arrangement, which would operate for three years, is required to enable investment
in credit card facility infrastructure” said the decision.
But on the same day the ACCC approved the Stadium Australia plan, it also released a draft decision knocking back Woolies’ similar plans for a monopoly at the company’s new ePumps.
The ACCC's statement quoted Samuel as saying that the giant retailers’ plan to only accept payment at epumps from customers using Woolies new Everyday Money credit card would “distort the competitive process between card issuers.”
Of course, as we reported last week, Woolies too, has threatened to spit the dummy if the ACCC doesn’t approve its plans.
The company responded to opposition from banks, the NRMA and others by telling the ACCC
that if it didn’t get approval, no one would be able to pay at the pumps.
It said there would be no pay at the pump option for anyone, no matter what they card they hold. Instead, everyone would have to go into the shop and pay for their petrol at the cash register, as usual.
So what’s the essential difference between the Woolies situation and the Stadium Australia situation? Why does Visa get a 3 year monopoly for its PayWave contactless card, but Woolies doesn’t for
its Everyday Money contactless card?
After all, both would seem to suffer from the same ‘public interest’ problem identified by Samuel’s last year when he announced the ACCC’s initial knock-back for the Stadium Australia plan.
"If restrictions of this type became widespread across the economy it could have very significant consequences. It could result in consumers needing to carry a range of card products to ensure
they can make payments as they wish." 
We put these questions to Samuel when he called eCommerce Report at our request.
He said that there is a very significant difference between the decisions and that most of the media hadn't understood that.
"To characterize these as dummy spits is a mis-reading of the decisions and the evidence" he said.
"Änd the difference is that with the ANZ Stadium, the operator is installing credit-card facilities that will be available to everyone, both swipe and dip.
They'll be available to everyone, no matter what card they use.
Moreover the contactless cards are issued by more than one bank. In this case Macquarie Bank as well as the ANZ.
With Woolies plan, there's only one contactless payment card accepted at their bowser, their new Everyday Money card.
Other operators, like BP and Mobil have got pay at the bowser where you cnan use swipe or dip.
So whilst there's public benefit in having bowser payments, that doesn't sufficiently offset by the anti-competitive aspect of what they're doing. "
The contrasting decisions are also significant because they involve the emerging competition between payments card brands over so-called contactless cards.
With their built-in radio receiver, these cards don’t need to be either swiped or dipped into an EFTPOS terminal or card reader. Instead the customer can just wave them over the top of the reader.
Indeed in some situations you may not even need to take them out of your wallet or your pocket; the receiver will still pick up the signal if you’re standing close enough.
The cards are the next big thing in payments systems. They’re seen as having a very big future in situations where convenience and speed is a big issue, such as in public transport, or in a fast food queue.
Moreover, from the credit-card company’s point of view, they are a big opportunity to get into a low-value payments – an areas where their products have traditionally been seen as ill-suited and too expensive.
Typically, the two major players, Visa and MasterCard, have developed technically competing and incompatible products so that EFTPOS terminals and/or card readers that can read a Visa Paywave
card can’t also read a MasterCard PayPass card and vice versa.
So the battles before the ACCC are strategically very significant for the card companies, despite the small number of cards involved.
Likewise, ACCC approval for its Everyday Money ePump monopoly is strategically very important for Woolworths.
The company has invested in developing a contactless credit-card that is neither PayWave nor PayPass, and facilitates secure payment at the pump in its Caltex/Woolies and Caltex/Safeywas co-branded petrol stations.
Woolworths has begun rolling out the pumps across stations in Sydney and Wollongong, with plans for a full nation-wide roll-out.
But, as the pictures here show, the ePumps only accept contactless cards. There is no slot for swiping a standard card with a magnetic stripe and nowhere to read a chip from one of the newer so-called chip cards.
There can be no doubt that if Woolies doesn’t get official approval for its Everyday Money contactless card payment plan, there’ll be no ‘e’ in the ePumps; they’ll be dumb pumps like every other.
For more information go to www.accc.gov.au
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