Because the fees incurred by these elite cards are part of the cost of accepting credit cards, it’s the merchant which has to fork out to cover it rather than the consumer.
The reason for the higher fees is down to the generous reward programmes attached to elite cards, which for Apple Card users include 3% daily cash back “at select merchants” and real-time fraud alerts.
Pitched to retailers as a consumer pool with ‘more buying power’ because they will theoretically spend more, the elite card is designed to be a win-win. Bloomberg cites payment processor Auric’s research which reveals that since January 2018 the average purchase made with premium-branded Visa cards is $50 higher than those made with regular Visa credit cards.
