Australian retailers have backed the banks' application to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for authorisation to negotiate collectively with third-party mobile wallet providers, arguing that the payment industry's investment in technology should be "open and inclusive".Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank have applied for authorisation to bargain collectively with third-party mobile wallet providers over access, security and technical standards and fee transparency. The main issue in the banks' application is that Apple's iPhone is set up in such a way that the only mobile payment app that can have access to the NFC chip in the phone is Apple Pay. Coles said in its submission to the ACCC: "It is important to recognise that the industry has collectively made a very significant investment in payments technologies like NFC, with an open and inclusive approach aimed at continually improving the experience for all customers."Coles introduced NFC-enabled payment terminals in its stores in 2012 so that it could accept contactless payments."We see NFC technology as a key enabler of this change and the investment made by local participants means Australia is well placed for the introduction of mobile payments."We believe the ability to tailor solutions for customers and provide them with greater value should be the driver for customer choice and not a technical lockout that many customers may not have realised would be imposed when they purchased their mobile device."The Australian Retailers Association said that in order to realise the potential innovations in mobile payments it was important that "consumers and merchants have a choice between mobile wallets and mobile payment services, whichever mobile device or platform they have chosen."It said mobile payments relied heavily on the NFC technology that retailers have installed. The use of other technologies would require the installation of additional equipment in stores.According to the ARA, the consumer benefits of an "open" system include greater incentive for financial institutions, technology companies and retailers to innovate, greater consumer confidence in mobile wallets and greater participation by merchants.