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Banks are trying to cut their Apple Pay fees

Card issuers aren't happy about funneling money to a giant company that's increasingly competing with them.

An iPhone using Apple Pay

Apple charges banks fees on Apple Pay transactions.

Photo: CardMapr/Unsplash

Banks are pushing Visa to cut the extra fees that they have to pay on Apple Pay transactions, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Banks have been paying about 0.15% of each transaction their cardholders make using Apple Pay to Apple, an unusual arrangement that Apple justified at Apple Pay's introduction as covering the increased security it offered mobile transactions. Google doesn't charge similar fees for mobile transactions using Google Pay.

Now the financial institutions want those fees cut, in part because of Apple's moves to launch its own competing credit card, according to the report.

Under the new Visa rules, banks wouldn't have to pay for subscription transactions, such as streaming services or gym memberships, the Journal said.

Tomio Geron

Tomio Geron ( @tomiogeron) is a San Francisco-based reporter covering fintech. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal, covering venture capital and startups. He was also as a staff writer at Forbes covering social media and venture capital, and edited the Midas List of top tech investors. He can be reached at tgeron@protocol.com or tgeron@protonmail.com.

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