Re: "Tidy" Payday?
I think a valid question is what value add is Apple providing? You could argue (mostly with a straight face) that the Visas and MasterCards of the world are charging a fee for providing infrastructure, prompt payment, and payment integrity to the process by acting as a middleman to confirm that the CC is legitimate, it has an available balance, and that it wasn't involved in fraudulent activities seven states and fifteen clones ago.
Apple is just providing a key that unlocks a door to new locks that still need to be unlocked by the banks and credit processing firms. They are little more than an electronic version of a piece of plastic with a magstripe or chip that lets the retailer start the process of confirming payment. So even 0.15 cents on the dollar seems a bit steep for something that is almost entirely for the benefit of the consumer.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
