Financial institutions raided over mobile pay deals
The Swiss Competition Commission has searched the premises of Credit Suisse and UBS, PostFinance and the credit card companies Swisscard and Aduno for allegedly boycotting mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
The Competition CommissionExternal link said on Thursday it had opened an investigation on Tuesday.
The Swiss financial institutions are suspected of agreeing among themselves not to authorise their credit cards for use with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, in order to favour the Swiss payment method TWINT.
PostFinance, the banking arm of the state-run Post Office, said it was cooperating with the competition watchdog to clarify the facts. PostFinance said it was convinced it had not violated Swiss antitrust laws.
For its part, Credit Suisse said it was convinced the allegations would prove unfounded. “We already offer consumers in Switzerland access to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay through our 50%-owned subsidiary Swisscard,” it said.
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