Something strange is happening in the world of credit cards. Behind the scenes, Visa reportedly put USD 100 million on the table for one goal: to become the new network behind the Apple Card. Not to launch a new product. Not to enter a new country. Just to replace Mastercard on a card that already exists. At first glance, that number might seem outrageous. But the real story runs deeper.
The Wall Street Journal broke the story, but it's important to note that a Visa spokesperson declined to comment, stating the company does not respond to rumours or speculation. Still, the potential implications of such a deal are worth examining.
To understand what is really at stake, you have to step back and look at how consumer payments have evolved. For decades, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express owned the rails. They were the brand. A logo on a physical card meant trust, reach, and security. But in today’s mobile-first world, something fundamental has changed.
Think about how people pay now. They don’t pull out a card and look at the network logo. They double-click the side of their iPhone. They say, ‘I used Apple Pay.’ Behind that experience, the network is invisible. The user doesn’t care who is routing the transaction. They care about speed, design, and the brand they trust. Increasingly, that brand is Apple.
Apple now controls the customer relationship. It decides who gets access to transaction volume. It dictates the user experience. It reviews bids from Visa, Mastercard, and even American Express, all wanting to become the new Apple Card network. These companies are scrambling to stay relevant in a world where their brands are fading into the background.
This is especially significant for American Express. For years, it positioned itself as a premium, closed-loop provider with tight control over both issuing and acquiring. But even American Express sees the writing on the wall. It wants in on Apple’s ecosystem. It wants to be the engine behind the curtain. That is a significant shift. It shows that even the most vertically integrated players are willing to become invisible if that is what it takes to remain in the game.
This USD 100 million moment reveals a broader trend: the commoditisation of payment networks. The infrastructure still matters, but the value is shifting upstream. Brand equity, user loyalty, and behavioural control are moving into the hands of platforms that dominate the user interface.
Apple is not just offering a better-designed credit card. It delivers a full payment experience across devices, digital wallets, and behavioural touchpoints like spending summaries and instant cashback. It is setting a new standard.
For payment professionals, this shift has significant implications. If networks become interchangeable, their long-term value will rely more on how seamlessly they integrate with leading ecosystems than on brand visibility or legacy relationships.
Network economics will need to adapt. Pricing models, incentive programmes, and data access will increasingly be shaped by the platform that owns the consumer interface.
Issuers and acquirers must also reconsider their positioning. The competition has moved upstream in a world where checkout happens with a fingerprint or a face scan. The new differentiator is no longer ‘Reach’. It is ‘Relevance’. Relevance means being embedded where the customer already lives.
Apple’s increasing control over the payment layer also raises broader questions. As its influence over financial infrastructure grows, regulators may begin to scrutinise its role in the same way they would a financial institution. Questions around competition, data access, and market dominance are likely to become more urgent.
It is also worth noting that while Apple’s market share in smartphones and digital wallets is significant, it is not universal. In Android-dominated markets or regions with different digital payment norms, Apple’s influence is far less pervasive. That limits how much of the global payments infrastructure it can truly shape.
Apple’s next move may seem like a minor back-end change. But for those paying attention, it represents a quiet reordering of power in the payments stack. It is a reminder that in today’s financial ecosystem, the most valuable position is not just running the rails. It is owning the station where every journey begins.
Bilal El Kouche has over 20 years of experience in payments and fintech, with previous roles at companies such as Veepee and Ingenico. His work focuses on simplifying complex payment systems and exploring the evolving role of platforms in the Payment industry. He explores topics such as digital payment infrastructure and how platform models are reshaping the financial ecosystem.
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