As Apple Card launches, a few naysayers have crawled out of the woodwork to add their two cents.
Nicholas Rossolillo for The Motley Fool:
In recent years, Apple has pivoted to a more service-oriented business. The App Store, a healthcare segment tied to the Watch, Apple TV (as well as the soon-to-be-launched Apple TV+ streaming service), and Apple Pay are leading the charge for the double-digit growth segment. A new product extension of Apple Pay, Apple Card, is getting a lot of attention, including the typical Apple treatment as a game-changing product entry just like the iPhone was. However, the new credit card probably won’t be the same kind of game changer…
The Apple Card certainly looks and behaves a bit differently than the typical credit card, but it’s likely to be a simple extension of Apple Pay rather than a category-redefining product. For one thing, the Card is only going to be available to Apple product users, at least at this point.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Card being exclusive to iPhone users hardly limits its prospects: Apple iPhone has an active installed base of over 900 million devices.
Apple just revolutionized another industry with Apple Card. — MacDailyNews, March 26, 2019
Apple Card will be more popular than most people think and it will spur the use of Apple Pay significantly. — MacDailyNews, August 14, 2019
I think analysts are underestimating the cachet/brand power of the card, it’s great user experience and simplicity of it’s rewards. Like many Apple products, if you just look at the specs on paper it doesn’t win in many areas but it’s overall experience is superior.
Apple would actually do even better if it brought it to other countries like the UK, Europe and Asia where mobile payment adoption is far higher than the US. I currently live in the UK and I can use ApplePay just about anywhere, just wish they got rid of the stupid payment limit.
Disagree. Mobile payments (including apple pay) aren’t any better served by this card than others on the market, and in many ways (especially swipe payments) it’s inferior. The “simplicity” of its rebate program is really just part of its dearth.
The only area this card has tangible benefits is when buying FROM APPLE. It’s not a compelling enough reason for most credit-worth individuals to add it to the arsenal. Apple’s customers are statistically more wealthy, but I don’t think they’re statistically less finance-savvy are they?
I guess we’ll see.
“Mobile payments aren’t any better served” – What I really was getting at is AppleCard will be even better received in countries where mobile payment adoption is high and contactless payment terminals are the default.
When I refer to Apple Card I’m not referring to the physical card which just exists as a fall back because us Americans are so far behind that swipe payments is still a thing.
Apple have announced that they are expanding the 3% cash back to more partners than just “buying FROM Apple”. What this shows is this is just the start, Apple will continue to expand and evolve the service as time goes on which means it will become more compelling for more people and customers can look forward to more benefits. Writing the service off now is just short sighted.
I don’t quite get your statement that the simplicity of it’s daily cash back is it’s dearth. You’ve picked the one feature of the card which I think is unique and it’s strength. I can’t think of another card which offers daily cash back?
The thing is despite all of these arguments, you sort of missed my point, I think their are a lot of people which find the idea (regardless of it’s perks and benefits) of owning a Credit Card made by Apple very appealing and it’s this aspect which I think many are underestimating.
One thing Apple needs to add is the ability to export/copy data/transactions from the app. Some of us use other apps/services to manage our money. It’s actually required by law in some countries like the UK.
I’m pretty sure they will eventually get around to doing this, as well as the ability to view transactions online, maybe via icloud.com (it’s probably on their to do list).
After a handful of transactions with my Apple Card the advantages are clear to see. Instant notification on your iPhone, clear info about transactions/payments due and quickly available Daily Cash. It may not be as generous as other cards, but it’s transparent, well-designed, easy and fun to use, no one else can compare to this experience.
The only bottleneck I see is acceptance, even here in Silicon Valley I’ve run into a few places that don’t take Apple Pay. That’s what my physical card will be for. It’ll change as users snowball and the market demands it. Business owners will get sick of being asked if they take Apple Pay.
I think they don’t see the indirect as well as direct influence it will have. Others will be desperate to offer something they can claim looks and works the same well beyond the direct integration into the market place. Analysts really do lack lateral thinking despite plenty of previous evidence to show them the way it works. Lets revisit this in 5 years and see the influence and impact it really has.
Yeah yeah, walled garden, we’ve heard it before. As usual, the naysayers don’t get it.
The Apple watch still requires an iPhone and it’s the biggest selling watch OF ANY CATEGORY in the world. The supposed garden never seems to keep Apple from printing money, which the fandroids can’t stand..
Got my Apple Card and loving it. That and my Watch pay for everything when I’m out.
where’s your source on the claim that they’re the “biggest selling” watch? Maybe by gross $ but not in units (or probably even by net/profit)
Guess you’re not on this site very often, PCA; this was just last week:
To head off the nitpicky trolling,I’d better just rephrase it to say “the biggest selling SMARTwatch of any category”. FIFY.
Sounds like Steve Ballmers reaction to the original iPhone.
Ha! I just saw that video the other day! Talk about being clueless and short sighted!
On day 12 with it and it seems to be the dominant card I use already. The tight integration with the wallet app is working well for me and I like the convenience of it all