Apple Pay Gives Apple 0.15% Of Your Purchase

Yesterday, we told you about Apple's plans to monetize Apple Pay. By taking a small cut of the transaction fee a bank charges a merchant, Apple stands to make a large chunk of change. Now we get further details on just what kind of deals Apple may have struck with various institutions, and how much they really might be raking in.

According to The Financial Times, Apple's fight for your spending habits is a nickel-and-dime fight — literally. Their report suggests Apple is taking a 0.15% cut of the action. That math suggests that on a $100 purchase, Apple is making $0.15.

It doesn't seem like much, but think about it scaled appropriately, and it's impressive. Buy a new purse, and Apple gets a few pennies. A new computer might get them a buck or two, while coffee for you and a friend would return a penny or two Apple's way. In a year, it's reasonable to think Apple would pinch ten bucks or so from active Apple Pay users. Scale that to tens of millions of consumers, and you've got yourself a tidy income.

Of course, the portion of the transaction Apple takes isn't gratis from the bank. Apple has carefully thought out security for Apple pay, which is a large reason banks are so willing to cut them in. Still, NFC point of sale terminals need to be implemented widely before this really starts to reap rewards for Apple, but now that they're involved, and have the backing of financial institutions, that may happen faster than we think.

Source: The Financial Times