It does seem like a lot of work and potential risk if the sole purpose is to increase user dependency on the Apple ecosystem.
Apple has been very focused on not being a big-data company. Any sort of back-end shenanigans would be so damaging to the brand of information safety that they have been building as to be unworth any potential profit.
Once they have a foothold in the finance sector they can start financing their own devices and capture that revenue, instead of letting it slip to third parties.
This makes incredible sense. Lots of large companies have financing services that are very profitable. Finance is one place where it's much easier to enter than self driving cars.
Now I'm a bit sad I don't own any apple stocks.
With this game plan they can increase their leverage in the consumer market enormously.
Previously with other cards, using Apple Pay is just a matter of convenience for the customer. With the Apple Card, it's a matter of getting more cash back, so consumers are now financially motivated to prefer vendors that support Apple Pay.
Roughly $50B are spent on App Store, and even more with growing number of Subscription along with other Apple Credit Card usage. That is a potential of $100B+ transaction volume.
It will likely be another entry point for Apple Cash, sending and receiving money from friends.
Usually a percentage of each transaction and/or flat fee per cardholder or signup and/or a percentage of fees and interest paid. The exact details on these agreements are rarely published.
See here:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/everything-you-ever-wanted-to...