[yowlingcat]

That says more about the way the company does corporate accounting than its business model. Microsoft also has roughly the same reported margin -- does that mean that there's a lot of margin for the taking with Microsoft? No. You're taking a noisy signal and putting meaning into it which isn't there.

Again, the networks take a small fraction of the overall fee, and the vast majority go to entities outside of the card network itself. Take a look at how the merchant discount rate breaks down, and you'll see who the true takers of those processing fees are.

[kesselvon]

Yeah, thats exactly what net income means. Its an accounting of the actual profits your company generates after all expenses. Its a standardized measure, which means you are able to compare apples to apples.

Both are oligopolistic market players that can command price, and then generate outsized profits from their large market share. Both have fat margins, that has nothing to do with how easy that margin is to take away. Average corporate profits (net income) run 10-15%, so any outsized margin beyond that is a good indication that the company is able to generate excess profits through whatever means.