Visa has offered Apple approximately $100 million, a significant step toward strengthening its position in the battle between the largest payment networks in the United States of America.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing its sources, the offer is an attempt to replace Mastercard as the lead payment network for the Apple card.

  • The move comes as Goldman Sachs, the tech giant's current card service bank, is exiting the consumer credit market, making the Apple card a desirable asset for other players.
  • Major banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Synchrony Financial have already joined the fray to become the new card issuer. 
  • Competition among payment networks is no less fierce. Visa, as the WSJ points out, has made an aggressive offer that includes an upfront fee.
  • American Express (Amex) is also vying to replace Mastercard, which wants to become not only a network operator but also an Apple Card issuer.

Meanwhile, according to other sources, Mastercard is not going down without a fight and is actively working to maintain its position as an Apple Card network partner.

Payment networks are key elements of the payment processing in the world, ensuring the transfer of information between banks that issue cards to consumers and merchant banks. It is expected that Apple will first decide which network to use and then select a bank to replace Goldman Sachs.