The 'directing business to merchants' is something APT has added on and appears a strong argument againt regulation now, however you have to ask how did APT get a critical mass of customers in the first place? Still, 4 or 5% of gross sales versus around 1% for other payments leaves a lot of room for marketing. I'd suspect some of the larger merchants are not getting value, but perhaps much smaller businesses are getting value. There isnt much of a choice though, you have to participate if you're a merchant. The reason you have to is becuase APT achieved a critical mass of customers by handing out money within a few hours outside of credit regulation.