National Australia Bank says it will not look to monetize new services delivered to merchants and consumers through its recently launched health payments platform known as HICAPS Go.While NAB is the dominant provider in the private health insurance payments market, digital technologies developed by online startups such as Whitecoat.com.au threaten to erode its leading position.NAB currently processes close to 85 per cent of all private health insurance related payments in Australia through a proprietary fleet of eftpos terminals located at more than 100,000 clinics and doctors' surgeries.The bank is aiming to entrench its market dominance by gradually migrating its health insurance claims service to the mobile payments space.The HICAPS Go mobile App allows patients to search for practitioners, obtain quotes for procedures, pay for consultations and then claim their private health insurance benefits.It has the potential to position NAB as an originator of clients for health professionals in much the same that mortgage brokers introduce borrowers to banks.However, Cameron Fuller, the head of NAB Health, insists that the bank is not interested in collecting fees for introducing patients to practitioners."It's not our intent to do that," Fuller told Banking Day."We're not looking to monetize any of the new services that come with the app - our sole business interest is around the payments function that HICAPS Go provides."The app also provides NAB with a capability of introducing customers to private health insurers, but Fuller says the bank is also not interested in competing against the likes of online brokers such as iSelect.So, it won't be collecting commissions from insurers that acquire new policyholders from HICAPS Go."We're not planning to become a Tripadviser of health services in Australia," he said.NAB will also limit the extent to which consumers will be able to rate the health care professionals they use.Rival platforms such as the nib-sponsored Whitecoat service - which is rumoured to have attracted financial backing from Commonwealth Bank - allow patients to give assessments of their health care providers based on a five-star ratings system.While NAB is clearly offering new services at no extra cost through HICAPS Go, there is shrewd business logic underpinning the freebies.If the bank decided to monetise these services, it might potentially compromise its payments volumes and associated fee revenue streams.By offering information and origination services for free, NAB is effectively nullifying price entry points for startups to wrest slivers of the health payments market.NAB is also protecting deep banking relationships with health care professionals. Internal bank research in the past has shown that installation of an eftpos terminal at a health practice boosts the likelihood of the business owner borrowing from the bank.Fuller says he is confident that NAB will increase its market share in health payments as more allied health practitioners and insurers join the HICAPS Go rollout. When asked whether it was inevitable that rival services such as ANZ's yet-to-be-launched HealthPay app have the potential to loosen NAB's stranglehold, Fuller said: "We're always alert to competition but we feel confident and comfortable that we