Banks are worried about the growing popularity of digital wallets like Apple Pay, which collects a fee for every transaction and threatens their interchange fees income. Apple is encroaching on traditional finance's territory, leading to banks creating their own digital wallet, "Paze," to compete for control of consumer payments.
Vocabulary:
• CEO - Chief Executive Officer, the highest-ranking person in a company or organization
• interchange fees - a fee charged by a credit card company for processing a transaction between a merchant and a bank
• merchants - a person or company involved in wholesale or retail trade
• pocketing - to take something for oneself, typically money dishonestly
• estimated - roughly calculated or approximated
• revenue - income, especially when of a company or organization and of a substantial nature
• lender - a person or company that lends money
• subsidiary - a company controlled by another company, typically a holding company
• spokesperson - a female spokesperson
• tap to pay - a contactless payment method that allows the user to make a payment by tapping a card or mobile device on a payment terminal
• clear cut - clear and straightforward
• digital wallet - an electronic version of a physical wallet that allows users to make electronic transactions via a mobile device or computer
• eligible - having the right to do or receive something
• checkout process - the process of paying for goods or services at a store or online
• traction - the extent to which something gains popularity or acceptance
• super apps - an app that combines multiple services or features, typically used for messaging, shopping, and other tasks in a single platform.
Source: WSJ