Apple's abuse of customer accounts a danger to any national payment system that it accesses - questions for Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan as Apple considers registering as a payment system operator in the Philippines

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Timothy Donald Cook  is the current chief executive officer of Apple Inc

The Manila Bulletin and others reported: 

Apple Pay and Google Pay are exploring the possibility of entering the Philippine market, but must first register with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as operators of payment systems (OPS), a central bank official said.

BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan confirmed that both tech giants have initiated discussions with the central bank, signaling a potential step toward offering their digital payment services locally.

"They're exploring, and we had a discussion on their activities. It was clear to us that they are—when you touch the payment system, you are an operator of payment systems," Tangonan told reporters on Dec. 2.

How Apple might be permitted to "touch the payment system"  given its record of destroying or otherwise losing customer records  (see story below) is hard to fathom  and hence it will be interesting to observe how BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan navigates the application. 

To Be Read With 

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Apple Support Advisors in The Philippines say that Apple's documents disclosing Apple IDs are false, do not prove that Apple accounts exist -admission puts in doubt Tim Cook's financial statements, reported earnings

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

        Rotten Apples are not confined to food markets

Is Apple's Tim Cook culling Apple IDs  in order to reduce Apple 's storage costs, so as to artificially raise consolidated gross profits?


On the face of it such a scheme would seem incredible but a simple Google search for the phrase "Apple ID Disappeared" reveals that the problem is commonplace.

This writer became aware of the issue when he was informed by Apple Support's advisors in The Philippines that his Apple ID which has been in use since 2012 and which Apple has used to bill for services, inlcuding iCloud storage,never existed. 

The evidence here  includes an admission by Apple Support advisors in The Philippines that Apple IDs are not proof that Apple accounts exist. This was despite the personnel concerned being provided samples of Apple documents , including Apple  invoices and receipts of payments for iCloud storage.In short, Apple appears to be booking revenue for iCloud storage, while eliminating data stored, on the pretext that the related Apple IDs do not exist. 

Tim Cook has already gotten Apple into  trouble by overstating demand, and hence potential revenue from the China market in 2019. That debacle forced Apple to seek settlement in a USD 490 Million class action.  Earlier in 2015 Apple was ordered to pay Italian tax authorities 318 Million in taxes and penalties for failing to disclose revenue earned in that country. 

There does seem to be a scheme in place, inadvertently revealed by Apple Support's Advisors in The Philippines, to reduce costs and artificially raise consolidated gross profits. It might also be part of a scheme to increase costs and reduce taxable income of  subsidiaries located in higher taxing jurisdictions. 

END