A group of banks in Australia have accused the iPhone maker of delaying the progress of mobile payments.

A number of Australian banks have come together in a claim that Apple NFC technology restrictions are keeping mobile payments from progressing. They feel that mobile wallet services could be advancing faster across multiple platforms, but the iPhone maker’s tech restrictions are proving to be highly problematic.

The banks have said they feel that lifting the NFC restriction considerably change the ecosystem.

The group of Australian banks described the struggle they feel with the Apple NFC technology restriction in a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission(ACCC). The submission was 27 pages long and described the way the NFC restriction is not only stopping new mobile wallets from being accessible across different platforms, but it is also placing a barrier in the way of progress.

The four banks insist that the restriction is leading to a fragmented customer experience and that if access is not made available there “simply will not be the same incentives and ability to innovative,” when it comes to progress on iOS based devices or others, for that matter.

The restriction from Apple NFC technology is important in Australia as it represents 40% of smartphones.

In the report from the banks, they pointed out that “approximately 40% of smartphone sales are iPhones,” in the country. That said, they also underscored that “the value and importance of the iPhone customer segment for app uptake, use and expenditure far outweigh this share.”

To illustrate the point, the report said that about 60 percent of mobile banking transactions come from iPhone users. Moreover 70 percent of Australian mobile app revenues come from those same devices. As Apple smartphone users are more likely to use mobile wallets and banking and will more readily embrace newer technologies, these are also the users most likely to push tech innovation, such as with mobile payments.

By restricting the Apple NFC technology, the banks claim that progress in other areas of mobile payments is being hobbled. iPhone users are typically more tech focused, wealthy, engaged by and attached to their devices. By cutting them off from tech other than that produced by the iPhone maker itself, competition and opportunity from elsewhere is stunted, said the report.

Even though the DTEK50 experienced lower sales than predicted, the struggling handset maker isn’t stopping.

The floundering Canadian handset maker has decided it’s time for yet another BlackBerry keyboard phone. This announcement follows closely on the heels of an announcement from the company that misled much of the world into believing there would be no more BlackBerry smartphones. After that announcement brought the brand into the spotlight, it took care to point out that third party manufacturing would continue to make the branded devices.

Handset makers willing to pay to license the company’s brand will soon put out a keyboarded smartphone.

This new BlackBerry keyboard phone will be coming into the market even though the DTEK50’s results were not at all impressive. The DTEK60 was just released through a collaboration between the company and Alcatel, but figures about the success of that device have yet to be produced at the time of the writing of this article.

That said, when interviewed by Bloomberg, the company’s CEO, John Chen, gave the official confirmation that another BlackBerry smartphone was on the way. “We have one keyboard phone I promised people. It’s coming,” he said.

The official release date of the upcoming BlackBerry keyboard phone was not announced.

Chen said only that it was coming “soon.” Therefore, that could mean that BlackBerry will have a new mobile device on the market during the holiday shopping season.

Another announcement made by Chen during the interview pointed out that there are more companies interested in producing branded smartphones. In fact, he said BlackBerry is currently talking to two different companies about launching smartphones carrying their logo. That said, he did not identify the two companies at the time of their initial mention.

What he did say was that the two companies are based in India and China. He also suggested that the two companies were neck and neck in terms of what they have to offer.

Fans of BlackBerry keyboard phones appear to have some new offerings on the way in the next few months. Despite the fact that the company isn’t making its own mobile devices anymore, other companies seem to be interested in taking over.