Chase to Issue Apple Card: What's Ahead for Apple's Payments Business?

Apple AAPL and Chase announced that the latter will assume the role of issuer for Apple Card, with the transition expected to be completed in roughly 24 months. During this period and beyond, Apple Card users will continue to benefit from the card’s offerings, including unlimited Daily Cash rewards of up to 3% on purchases, intuitive spending insights, Apple Card Family, access to a high-yield Savings account and more. Mastercard will remain the payment network, ensuring continued global acceptance and access to Mastercard benefits.

Launched in 2019, Apple Card was built with users’ financial health in mind. For instance, cardholders using Apple Card with Apple Pay, a cashless payment service, gets 2% Daily Cash back. Apple Pay is now available in nearly 90 countries and is accepted at more than 85% of retailers in the United States. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, Apple saw double-digit year-over-year growth in Apple Pay active users.

Apple’s payment service offerings fall under the Services business. The company has been riding on a strong Services growth, driven by expanding Apple Pay user base, rich Apple TV content and an expanding Apple Arcade game portfolio. In fiscal 2025, the Services business accounted for 26.2% of net sales with revenues growing 14% year over year, better than 13% year-over-year growth in fiscal 2024. 

Apple’s endeavor to continuously expand its Arcade game portfolio is expected to keep subscribers engaged. The company’s focus on expanding sports content is noteworthy. Beginning in 2026, all Major League Soccer games will be available to stream for Apple TV subscribers at no additional cost. Apple TV has become the exclusive new broadcast partner for Formula 1 in the United States in 2026 under a five-year partnership.

Apple Faces Tough Competition in the Fintech Space

AAPL is facing stiff competition from the likes of Alphabet GOOGL and Affirm Holdings AFRM in the fintech space. 

Alphabet’s Google Pay (now part of Google Wallet) has been gaining traction among Android users, particularly in regions like India, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Alphabet has been adding features to offer more personalized recommendations to users across Google based on purchase and past information. GOOGL has added new ways to smooth the web payment experience of online shoppers, including “buy now, pay later” with Affirm and Zip through autofill on Chrome.

Affirm Holdings is a financial technology company specializing in payment solutions that provide consumers with flexible, transparent installment loans — both interest-free and interest-bearing — at the point of sale. Affirm’s top-line momentum remains strong, supported by growing GMV, rising adoption of Affirm Cards and entry into high-growth verticals like gaming. A robust merchant network fuels expansion, with new alliances.

AAPL’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Apple shares have jumped 23.3% in the past six-month period, outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 18.4%.

Apple Stock Beat Sector in 6 Months

The AAPL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/earnings of 31.03X compared with the broader sector’s 27.84X. AAPL has a Value Score of F.

AAPL Stock is Overvalued

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $8.12 per share, up by 4 cents over the past 60 days, suggesting 8.9% growth from fiscal 2025’s reported figure. 
 

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Apple Inc. price-consensus-chart | Apple Inc. Quote

Apple currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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