The Swiss companies offering digital payment systems are gathering their forces in anticipation of the impending start of Apple Pay.

Switzerland's five biggest banks – UBS, Credit Suisse (CS), Postfinance, Raiffeisen and Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB) – together with stock exchange operator SIX, retailers Coop and Migros and telecommunications giant Swisscom are discussing a joint solution for digital payment services, the companies said in a joint statement today.

One of the main goals of the cooperation of the biggest players in the Swiss financial services industry is to merge the e-wallet applications Paymit (UBS, ZKB, SIX) with Twint (Postfinance and partner banks).

Apple Pay

The talks come as a surprise as the two groups have been fighting hard to convince Swiss consumers about their system. And CS is joining the frame for the first time, having joined neither of the two applications so far.

The negotiations haven't been concluded so far, the companies said. Their aim is to evaluate whether a joint mobile payment system can be established quickly in Switzerland.

The key word is 'quickly': tech giant Apple has recently filed a patent request for Apple Pay in Switzerland.

The domestic providers evidently worry that they will be muscled out of the digital payment business once Apple is entering the market.