Apples innovative self-branded credit card, Apple Card, was expected tooverturn the existing retail banking industryand transform relationships between bankers and customers. Equipped with generous benefits and unique integration between Apples ecosystem and a users financial relationships, the card quickly generated many thousands of US users afterits 2019 introduction.With such a great start, how could it fail?And yet, somehow it found a way.To be fair, the six-year-old card hasnt really failed. It still exists and many enjoy itsperks and benefits, including cash-back deals and a savings account offering some of the best interest your money can buy. They enjoy it very much. In fact, the Apple Card ranks highest in customer satisfaction among co-brand credit cards,according to JD Power.But all is not wellBurned by its foray into retail banking during a period of global instability and pandemic, Apple Card partner Goldman Sachs wants out, and while it and Apple will continue working together for the duration of the existing contract, the open secret is that the iPhone maker is seeking a new card partner. That the two partners got fined $89 million for negligence and mismanagement by the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau didnt help. As recently as last week, Goldman Sachs CEOwarnedthat the arrangement between the two firms could end early, so it looks as if that company is eyeing a rapid exit from the deal.Right now, Apple is reportedly in conversation with Barclays on the matter,Reuters claims. Barclays is no stranger to taking on existing credit card services; it recently replaced Goldman Sachs as credit card partner for General Motors. Talks between Apple and JP Morgan Chase and Synchrony Financial have also been alleged in recent months.Despite these chats, nothing has been announced, which suggests Apple is encountering challenges finding a new partner.Whats in the way? Holiday season speculation told us potential retail banking partners just dont want to deliver on the features and benefits Apple Card currently provides.I think Apple is at a disadvantage here. Its important when thinking about the nature of those closed-door negotiations to ponder the power balance in these chats. After all, while Apple drives legendarily hard bargains, when it comes to negotiation, banks are banks, and they know that when it comes to real unearned wealth creation, the financial system they own always works in their favor.After all, when it doesnt, we bail them out.Look at it this way, while Apple has to sell and invent real products and services to make its money, banks just need to increase property values to charge interest on mortgage money they notionally lend which doesnt actually exist. A little like artificially manipulated crypto value spikes, its a lot easier to create scarcity than to meet it with what people need. In this scenario, the banks have the upper hand.Theres a certain irony to that. When it was introduced, Apple Card posed a titans challenge to the industry.Eating with the enemyThe features, including app-driven features, were second to none. The business proposition tilted hard toward customer convenience, and Apples foray into the financial system (in conjunction with even deeper stabs at retail bankings most profitable markets by other challenge banks) arguably helped force established financial institutions to get their act together and improve their customer offerings.(If that proposition were correct, youd see evidence of it and you can find that evidence in all the new features suddenly added to banking apps and services after Apple Card arrived.)Most people deeply resent the banking industry. Many millions continue to experience hardships following the 2008 crash. The idea that Apple Card and other challenge banks would somehowundermine the status quo remains quite attractive.Unfortunately, this doesnt seem to be happening. Instead, established banking services (such as Barclays) will now do the Big Fish, Little Fish predator tango and assimilate the competitor, neutralizing the threat.Was Apple Card too good? It was so good an established vendor may yet buy it, you might say.If that happens, Apple Card customers will be OK. (Theyll also be OK if the card fades away as their interests will be protected.) Apple will still make a profit. But the challenge will be defanged, and the industry will carry on its own sweet way while occasionally raising arguments about competition when vendors like Apple invent something they want to extract wealth from, such as Apple Pay.Everybody knows that the dice are loaded, as Leonard Cohen once sang. Thats how it goes.Even at Apple.You can follow me on social media! Join me onBlueSky, LinkedIn,Mastodon, andMeWe.