Apple is a hot property, and the big banks all want a chance to grab a piece of the action now that Goldman Sachs hasdecided to leave retail banking behind.Weve entered the breaking it down for parts stage of deal-making now, with banks bidding for both financial network access provision and to be the partner of note for the card.Apple Cardwas the future of bankingwhen it launchedsix years ago. It immediately generated noteworthy public interest, people liked the software that supported it, and the interest rates (which have changed over time) were seen as super-attractive. Apples Daily Cash loyalty scheme became popular, too, as did the Apple Card Savings account the company created a little later. The card was supported by Goldman Sachs as the credit partner and used Mastercard as the payment processor. Following somecostly service failures, Apple has been working to leave the first partner, while the deal with the second has expired. And thats where the action is.The Apple Card yard saleMastercard wants to keep Apples business, but is facing fairly aggressive competition from both Visa and American Express. There is clearly value in the business Visa hasoffered a hefty $100 millionto take over from Mastercard, while American Express is vying to take a partnership position in replacing both Mastercard and Goldman Sachs. Barclays, Synchrony Financia, and JP Morgan Chase have also discussedtaking over the credit side of the Apple Card business.Whats in it for them, of course, is access to Apples high-value market of relatively affluent and very loyal consumers. There are more than 12 million Apple Card users in the US with north of $20 billion in balances. These are (mostly, possibly except me) creditworthy people who spend, save, and borrow money. A 2020 survey told us that a third of Apple Card customershad annual incomes above $100,000.Customers in demandIn an unpredictable economy, customers like these are gold dust and Apple has them. The opportunity to expand the service into other up-and-coming economies wont be lost on the banks, either. Banks usually want to follow the money, so once all these deals are done, it will be interesting to see where Apple Card gets introduced.But thats not all that Apple brings to the table: Challenger banks newer, tech-driven services that arent weighed down by tradition have proliferated and improved since 2008 when bankers seemingly siphoned all the cash from the global economy.Banks responded by improving customer service and developing better B2C and B2B applications and software services. But challengers including Revolut have sought and gained banking licenses and pose more competition now than they did then. Whats limiting all these efforts, of course, is software design; the best services offer the best software.Thats where Apple comes in.Follow the moneyBanks know that Apple is really, really good at software (most of the time). They know that when it comes to usability and platform support, the company is second to none. They read the same research that shows Apples productsrapidly replacing Windows, and they also recognize that Apples commitment to security and privacy is vital essential, even to secure and stable financial exchange.(This is why the UK really shouldannouncewhether it has chosen to sacrifice its financial services sector by breaking end-to-end encryption, because financial firms will be furious when they find their trading system security underminedwithout any warning.)Apple has a lot to offer. But for more traditional financial entities such as those talking with the company about Apple Card, the biggest thing it can offer is that it is more than capable of building software and services to compete with challenger banks.And while many of us might rejoice if those challengers defeat the established order of financial things, incumbent entities will not fold without a fight hence, the interest in Apple Card. They think Apple couldhelp them thrivein the New World Fiscal Order. They are probably right.Deal, or no deal?This is whats at stake in Apples talks around the Apple Card. Banks want a direct line to the worlds most affluent customers, want to surprise and delight those customers, retain and profit from them, and they believe Apple can help them do it. The only snag is going to be whether Apple gets the deal right, or prices itself out of the market after all, Apple was a challenger once, and some other service could conceivably replace it.You can follow me on social media! Join me onBlueSky, LinkedIn, andMastodon.