Apple today announced Apple Card, an innovative, new kind of credit card created by Apple and designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life. Apple Card is built into the Apple Wallet app on iPhone, offering customers a familiar experience with Apple Pay and the ability to manage their card right on iPhone. Apple Card transforms the entire credit card experience by simplifying the application process, eliminating fees, encouraging customers to pay less interest and providing a new level of privacy and security. Available in the US this summer, Apple Card also offers a clearer and more compelling rewards program than other credit cards with Daily Cash, which gives back a percentage of every purchase as cash on customers’ Apple Cash card each day.
“Apple Card builds on the tremendous success of Apple Pay and delivers new experiences only possible with the power of iPhone,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay, in a statement. “Apple Card is designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life, which starts with a better understanding of their spending so they can make smarter choices with their money, transparency to help them understand how much it will cost if they want to pay over time and ways to help them pay down their balance.”
A Credit Card Designed for iPhone
Customers can sign up for Apple Card in the Wallet app on their iPhone in minutes and start using it with Apple Pay right away in stores, in apps or online worldwide. Apple Card gives customers easy-to-understand, real-time views of their latest transactions and balance right in Wallet, and Apple Card support is available 24/7 by simply sending a text from Messages.
Easy-to-Understand Spending
Apple Card uses machine learning and Apple Maps to clearly label transactions with merchant names and locations. Purchases are automatically totaled and organized by color-coded categories such as Food and Drinks, Shopping and Entertainment. To help customers better understand their spending, Apple Card provides weekly and monthly spending summaries.
Receive Daily Cash
Customers will receive a percentage of every Apple Card purchase amount back as Daily Cash. Unlike other cash back rewards, Daily Cash is added to customers’ Apple Cash card each day and can be used right away for purchases using Apple Pay, to put toward their Apple Card balance or send to friends and family in Messages. Every time customers use Apple Card with Apple Pay, they will receive 2 percent Daily Cash. Customers will also get 3 percent Daily Cash on all purchases made directly with Apple, including at Apple Stores, on the App Store and for Apple services.
No Fees and Lower Interest
There are no fees associated with Apple Card: no annual, late, international or over-the-limit fees. Apple Card’s goal is to provide interest rates that are among the lowest in the industry and if a customer misses a payment, they will not be charged a penalty rate.
To help customers make informed choices, Apple Card shows a range of payment options and calculates the interest cost on different payment amounts in real time. As a way to pay less interest, Apple Card will also suggest paying a bit more every month and offers the flexibility to schedule more frequent payments.
A New Level of Privacy and Security
A unique card number is created on iPhone for Apple Card and stored safely in the device’s Secure Element, a special security chip used by Apple Pay. Every purchase is secure because it is authorized with Face ID or Touch ID and a one-time unique dynamic security code. The unique security and privacy architecture created for Apple Card means Apple doesn’t know where a customer shopped, what they bought or how much they paid.
Goldman Sachs and Mastercard
Apple is partnering with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard to provide the support of an issuing bank and global payments network. As a newcomer to consumer financial services, Goldman Sachs is creating a different credit card experience centered around the customer, which includes never sharing or selling data to third parties for marketing and advertising. Mastercard will provide cardholders the ability to shop at merchants around the globe.
“Simplicity, transparency and privacy are at the core of our consumer product development philosophy,” said David M. Solomon, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with Apple on Apple Card, which helps customers take control of their financial lives.”
“We are excited to be the global payments network for Apple Card, providing customers with fast and secure transactions around the world,” said Ajay Banga, president and CEO of Mastercard, in a statement.
A Beautiful Titanium Card
Apple has also designed a titanium Apple Card for shopping at locations where Apple Pay is not accepted yet. With no card number, CVV security code, expiration date or signature on the card, Apple Card is more secure than any other physical credit card. All this information is easily accessible in Wallet to use in apps and on websites. For purchases made with the titanium Apple Card, customers will get 1 percent Daily Cash.
Availability
US customers can now sign up for the latest news about Apple Card on apple.com/apple-card. Apple Card will be available to qualified customers in the US this summer.
Source: Apple Inc.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, we want that physical card. We’ll use the digital card via our Apple Watches whenever possible, of course (more cash back), but we want that titanium, laser-etched card!
3% back on Apple products is pretty good. That could $100 on a nice iMac.
I didn’t like Barclay card’s terms on the 18 month “free financing” and at one point an electronic payment was late by one day. In effect they tried to charge me $800 interest. They wouldn’t budge, so I paid it off early to get the $800 refunded. One day? Fool me once…..
” Fool me once…..”
No one fooled anyone except you fooling yourself.
You agreed to pay in full on time or pay the interest. You knew the deal and failed to meet your obligation so they want their money. Short of you being hit by a semi truck there is no excuse.
Have you heard of autopay? Barclays offers it on their Apple Rewards card. Every bank I know has auto pay services. Easy as pie. Less clicks than you needed to post your responsibility evading comment here.
Shut up and pay up.
And what if auto payment fails bcs you have 1$ less than the stmt amount?
The late payment fees are there to scare customer not to miss payments… this Apple style is a welcome move… Visa/Master needed alternatives…
Sounds like Apple Card may not be accepted where Mastercard also is not if they are using the Mastercard network. Yes, rather rare but Costco would be one example where you would have to use a Visa linked to Apple Pay instead.
If they accept Apple Pay I would think it should work. They don’t know what kind of card it is. It’s a yes or no from the device with a unique number. So Apple Pay “using” a MasterCard doesn’t work there? Or just with a physical MasterCard? I’m not a costco member so i’m really curious.
I think it depends on the retailer having ‘subscribed’ to each payment network (AMEX, Visa, Mastercard, Discoer, etc.). Though Apple Pay may hide the CC number by sending a token, I think the token is keyed for the proper network so your payment can be processed. Chipped Visa/AMEX/Mastercards also send tokens so it is highly possible Apple Pay uses the same Token ‘header’ format identifying which payment network is being used for the transaction.
Costco accepts only Visa cards, even through Pay.
This is a similar situation to where many merchants accept Pay, but won’t take certain cards through it (e.g., Rubio’s and Trader Joe won’t take my Barclays American Airlines card; many merchants, including Einstein Bagels and Starbucks won’t take the Pay Cash card from my wallet).
The problem was caused by my bank, somehow an electronic payment that was scheduled to arrive two days before its due date ended up one day late. This after 13 successful on time payments. Of course, I didn’t find this out until the next statement. Neither bank would take responsibility. My bank blamed a “system change.”
“Autopay” sometimes isn’t so “auto”. Especially 6 years ago.
Perhaps, you yourself should examine “what you know but don’t” before you speak. You’ll be a better person for it.
Probably would have been more excited about this if they weren’t partnered with Goldman Sachs, which finally admitted (!) they defrauded investors in the lead-up to the Great Recession of 2008 (and paid $5 billion in fines for doing so). Apple couldn’t find a company slightly less corrupt to work with?? Sigh.
http://fortune.com/2016/04/11/goldman-sachs-doj-settlement/
Yeah, that kinda shocked me too – but then, I just finished the book “Bad Blood” about Theranos and I remembered that no, there is nobody looking out for “us”. Pass.
Since every investment bank was involved, whom do you propose Apple work with?
I propose that Apple work with a consumer bank, not an investment bank.
Do you not think that one day they’ll be the bank? It’s like when Apple put iTunes on a Motorola Razr, it was just a stop gap.
Just curious…which consumer bank was not harmed by the 2008 debacle? A consumer bank big enough to handle this endeavor.
Every company at some point in life will cheat due to pressure or something… as long as they partner with Samsung any bad will be in second position…
Agreed. 2 failings and 1 unknown with this card.
First failure, the 1% cash back for physical purchases is a non-starter when cards like citi double pay card pays 2% all the time. Apple has all the money, they could at least match this.
Second failure is the BIG one. That they partnered with goldman. Apple has enough money to be their own bank. The BANKS make all the money on these cards. If apple entered the financial field, it would have been earth shattering. Like 100 points onto the stock inside of 6 months earth shattering. It would have scared everyone senseless. GE did this, they ended up making more money in finance than in products. This could be a cash machine for apple. Hopefully they will eventually bank their own product. For now, they are just another credit card, sad.
Last, the unknown. It’s not clear if they give you a 30 day float interest free. Most credit cards do this, but I didn’t hear this made express, so hopefully this is just a detail needing to be confirmed.
Still, not a bad card. Just not a great card.
Regarding failure 1. It’s an incentive to use Apple Pay and get rid of these stupid cards we carry.
Apple has the money to be a bank, but being a bank is not the strength of Apple. In addition, banks are highly regulated, and that regulation flows through to “associated companies,” especially PARENT companies, of those banks, which would result in forced disclosure of more information about its clients than Apple wants to have to disclose, in keeping with its policy of customer privacy.
Also, the animation of the payment screen was very clear; if you pay off the charges due every month, you pay no interest. Thus, the “30-day float” is there.
GS paid for their crimes. Card is a carrot which encourages them to refrain from such misbehavior in future; Apple could easily hand off the whole plum arrangement to another bank if GS steps out of line in any way.
Would.
California citizens are circulating a ballot measure to create a California People’s Bank, or some name like that. I can’t wait because any profit will remain in CA, probably in the CPB, and will not flow into Wall St. investment banks which, as Writer Guy stated factually, caused the Clinton and Bush I Great Recession in my opinion. Clinton laid the foundation by having extreme corporatist Federal Reserve President Larry Summers get rid of Glass-Stiegal which kept gambling separate from banking.
As an aside, Progressives and Liberals are now believing Robert Reich reformist exposes and proposals but he’s discredited because he just stood by while Summers deregulated.
No, he was not president of the Federal Reserve. He was in the Treasury Dept. as its secretary. “While working for the Clinton administration Summers played a bad role in the 1994 economic crisis in Mexico, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and the Russian financial crisis.”
He was a bad actor. He taught at the highly corporate-centered Harvard Institute for International Development and helped grow the US’s economic colonialism by privatizing post-Soviet states so that the U.S financial system could exploit their wealth. Putin correctly reversed it so it’s no wonder that Wall St. and Regime Changer Hillary Clinton and now the whole Deep State of the US gov., except for some of Trump’s appointees, consider Putin an enemy. He also helped repeal the Glass-Steagall Act.”
I would get the Admantanium Card!
To pay off your 🍎card balance you use 🍎Pay ( as far as I can figure out ). I use AmEx to payoff my 🍎pay so I will be getting rewards points twice (🍎pay & AmEx) for each purchase. What am I missing here?
It may well be that AmEx considers this a cash advance, not a purchase, in which case you’ll get no rewards, AND you may be charged interest beginning immediately. Check your card’s terms.
I called AmEx and was told that I earn one reward point for each dollar charged by PayPal.
I bet that thing is going to bend in your wallet.
Haven’t seen this particular question brought up anywhere.
Does anyone know if the Apple Card will do what many (most?) other credit cards do… extend the warranty of any electronics you buy with it?
If so, how does it apply to AppleCare?