Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in ‘Fierce’ Fight

Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the ‌Apple Card‌ is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs.



Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple’s card services provider, while Mastercard is aiming to retain its position. Apple apparently plans to choose a new ‌Apple Card‌ network before it selects a partner to replace Goldman Sachs as the ‌Apple Card‌’s issuing bank, and competition is intense. Visa is offering Apple a $100 million upfront payment, while American Express is “in the mix” and Mastercard is “fiercely trying” to retain its role.

Apple and Goldman Sachs have been working to dissolve their partnership since 2023, with Goldman Sachs planning to exit the consumer banking market. JPMorgan Chase and Synchrony Financial are in talks with Apple to take over for Goldman Sachs, but American Express has also been aiming to become the issuer and network of the ‌Apple Card‌. Apple needs both an issuing bank for the ‌Apple Card‌ and a payment network that facilitates transactions.

Goldman Sachs and Apple have worked together on the ‌Apple Card‌ since its 2019 launch, and have also teamed up for the high-yield Apple Savings account. Apple has not been happy with Goldman Sachs because of customer service issues caused by long wait times for disputed ‌Apple Card‌ transactions and savings account withdrawals.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau even launched an investigation into Goldman Sachs due to the customer complaints, which led to tension, so both companies are eager to end their relationship.

The ‌Apple Card‌ has over 12 million users in the United States, with approximately $20 billion in balances.

This article, "Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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This is the Motorola Edge 60 Pro

Motorola is launching the first member of its Edge 60 series, the Edge 60 Fusion, in just a few hours. While this is the first Edge 60 device we’re getting, it’s far from the last, as the Edge 60 and Edge 60 Pro are also expected to arrive later this year. Today the Edge 60 Pro has been spotted in a couple of live images that look like they were captured during a certification process of some sort – possibly at the FCC. The Edge 60 Pro has a curved-side display as you can see, and a fake leather back in this gray/black colorway. The Pro will also be offered in purple, blue, and…

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Une enquête ouverte après des menaces contre les juges qui ont condamné Marine Le Pen dans l’affaire des assistants parlementaires du FN – France Info

  1. Une enquête ouverte après des menaces contre les juges qui ont condamné Marine Le Pen dans l’affaire des assistants parlementaires du FN  France Info
  2. En direct, condamnation de Marine Le Pen : la cheffe de file du RN attaque un « système » qui « a sorti la bombe nucléaire »  Le Monde.fr
  3. Le RN entre en campagne contre la justice – 01/04  BFMTV
  4. “Le courage plutôt que la reddition” : la presse internationale salue la décision de la justice française, mais anticipe un possible “profit politique” pour Marine Le Pen  France Info
  5. Portrait. Qui est Bénédicte de Perthuis, la juge prise pour cible par Marine Le Pen ?  Le Dauphiné Libéré
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Get ready for a range of new Alcatel phones

It turns out TCL was holding onto the Alcatel brand this whole time – for phones, we mean. The Chinese company licensed the brand from Nokia, and it’s now almost ready to relaunch it. There will be a whole range of Alcatel smartphones launching in India soon, in fact they will be part of the “Make in India” initiative. The brand will also establish a nationwide service network, and the product line will incorporate some unnamed patented innovations. This is the Alcatel 1B from 2022, the latest model before the new ones coming In terms of design, expect the devices to be “influenced…

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Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2.



watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery and it needs to be placed on a charger.

With watchOS 11.4, Apple has added an option for a Sleep Wake Up alarm to break through Silent Mode, so you can have your Apple Watch make a sound in addition to haptic tapping when a morning alarm goes off. There’s also support for Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners in the Home app.

This update includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including:

– Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners can be added to the Home app as well as used in scenes, automations, or simply say “Siri, clean the living room.”

– An option to allow Sleep Wake Up alarm to break through Silent Mode

– An issue where face selection may become unresponsive when switching faces

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/100100

More of the features available in watchOS 11 can be found in our watchOS 11 roundup.

Related Roundup: watchOS 11
Related Forum: Apple Watch

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Amazon Takes Up to $60 Off New M4 MacBook Air, Available From $949

Amazon today has all-time low prices on the new M4 MacBook Air, with up to $60 off the 13-inch and 15-inch versions of the computer. Right now these discounts are only available on Amazon, and most of them have estimated delivery windows of early April.

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This time around, there is one 13-inch configuration on sale and one 15-inch configuration on sale, reaching up to $60 off the original price. You can get the 256GB 13-inch M4 MacBook Air for $949.00, down from $999.00, and the 256GB 15-inch M4 MacBook Air for $1,139.00, down from $1,199.00. Both of these deals are available in two colors on Amazon.

We aren’t currently tracking any notable deals on the 512GB models of the M4 MacBook Air. If you’re on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.


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