Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the CEO of Canada’s biggest bank said limited access to near-field-communication (NFC) chips on smartphones—which are used in the tap-to-pay system—is keeping Canadian banks from competing with digital wallets run by the likes of PayPal and Apple Pay, calling them “frenemies.” (The Logic)

Talking point: McKay’s comments come as Apple faces global antitrust pressure over NFC access. In July 2024, after a European Union antitrust probe, Apple committed to opening the iPhone’s tap-to-pay technology to rival mobile wallets in the EU, and let approved third parties from various countries—including Canada—offer NFC transactions later that year. However, they still have to pay fees to Apple, which makes the final decision about whether to let outside companies use the technology. McKay said that as banks move toward open banking and share customer data with fintechs, levelling the playing field for hardware access is “absolutely critical,” adding that the bank is pressing the Competition Bureau and the federal government on the matter.