A "collective boycott" by most Australian banks of Apple Pay is a threat that's been renewed by banks in their latest missive to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. It's to rationalise their request for permission to engage in "limited collective negotiation with providers of third-party mobile wallet services," a matter wholly about Apple.Two themes - bombast and fear - permeate the legal analysis on benefits versus detriments in the latest pitch by four banks to the ACCC.Contactless penetration "has grown to the point where 74 per cent of all MasterCard in-store transactions are now contactless," the banks point out.The quartet making the running are three majors _CBA, NAB and Westpac - along with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.These banks own up to alarm over ANZ's advantage as an early mover with Apple Pay in Australia."Each applicant is aware that a number of its customers have signed up for payment cards with American Express and ANZ Bank in order to use ApplePay, and will continue to do so unless and until it offers Apple Pay. The four banks write: "ANZ estimated that 20 per cent of eligible customers (customers with credit or debit cards and an iPhone 6) have signed up to ApplePay since it joined on 28 April 2016."The four banks have again charged Apple with freeloading."In Australia, the industry has made substantial investment in payments technologies and in particular in the deployment of NFC technology. Merchant terminals accepting contactless payments via NFC technology are ubiquitous. "There is already a widespread consumer acceptance of contactless technology and contactless payments, so much so that per capita contactless payments in Australia are among the highest in the world"There has been a 42 per cent growth in contactless card accounts between 2014 and 2015."The banks' rhetoric therefore remains strident."In relation to Apple Pay, collective bargaining will not be effective, and the public benefits derived from the ability to collectively negotiate will not be possible, without the collective boycott. "Individual negotiation in circumstances where one party knows that the other cannot walk away from the negotiation is unlikely to be successful, and in most circumstances the same will apply to collective negotiation."