A battle is apparently breaking out among companies looking to get in on the Apple Card business. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are all in talks to become the payment network behind Apple Card…
As a refresher, Goldman Sachs is the bank that currently backs the Apple Card. Mastercard currently serves as the card’s payment network, helping to transmit information between the bank and the merchant. As has been reported many times, Goldman Sachs is looking for a way out of its deal with Apple after losing billions of dollars on the partnership.
But before Apple picks a new bank to replace Goldman Sachs, it needs to select a network for Apple Card.
Today’s report from The Wall Street Journal (Apple News+ link) says that both Visa and American Express are “trying to unseat Mastercard” as the payment network that powers the Apple Card. Visa has reportedly made an “aggressive pitch” to win the Apple Card business, sweetening the offer with a $100 million “upfront payment to Apple that’s normally reserved for the biggest card programs.”
Meanwhile, American Express is vying to become both the issuer and network of the Apple Card, replacing Goldman Sachs and Mastercard.
Mastercard, however, isn’t going down without a fight and is “fiercely trying to keep its role as the network,” the report says. Mastercard has also explored integrating its Finicity platform with the Apple ecosystem:
Big banks and networks for years have been wary of Apple’s ambitions and have developed a frenemy relationship, taking steps to keep the tech giant from making more inroads in consumer finance, while seeking to be close to Apple.
The network that locks in this deal is expecting to stay close to Apple’s future payments efforts.
Mastercard, for example, has explored using its fintech, Finicity, which has software that plugs into consumers’ bank accounts with their permission, to enable consumers to see their deposit-account balances within the Apple ecosystem, according to people familiar with the matter.
Goldman Sachs has been trying to exit its relationship with Apple since at least November 2023. A number of partners are vying to replace Goldman as the bank behind the card, including Synchrony, Chase, Capital One, and American Express.
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