Doesn't sound like a KICK-BACK to me. Microsoft pays application software companies to support Microsoft platforms. There is nothing wrong with that in a competitive market. Schools then buy the Microsoft platforms because they have the applications that schools want, and they believe that they provide the best value given other available market offerings. As an application software company, you should be very careful about providing your software on platforms that perform poorly. This poor performance will reflect badly on your software, and could cost you sales. So be careful who you take money from.

In most countries, the bank's own the ACH operators. So they would be disintermediating themselves? Clever.

Your description of gross profit is incorrect. Gross profit is revenue less the direct costs of producing those revenue. Direct costs would generally include labor costs for workers who produce shoes for Adidas as well as materials for the shoes, electricity to run the plants and depreciation on plant equipment. Net profit is gross profit less all other indirect costs. Indirect costs would includes things like design, marketing, advertising and administration.

The phone is also a really bad option in other ways. It is a multi-function device running all kinds of software from many sources. Some of that software could be malicious. Securing a phone is potentially very difficult. A card is a single function device devoted to authenticating the card hold for financial transactions. I think that from a security standpoint, a chip card is a better option. For convenience, the phone might win.