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Apple Card Launched Three Years Ago, Remains Exclusive to U.S. Residents

The_Auryn said:
My current APR on my cards are:

Bank of America Visa Traveler Rewards 19.24%
Capital One Mastercard 18.65%
Citibank Mastercard 24.49% (talk about usury)
Chase Visa 14.99%
Apple Card Mastercard 18.24% (started off at 15.99% when I first got it in March of 2021).

Should mention my current FICO score runs around 810, give or take a few points up or down each month. But I pay off every bill in full every month for the last twenty years (what the credit card companies call a 'deadbeat' because I don't pay them interest).

Still, I remember the days before 2007-9 when Congress passed the "Consumer protection act" Remember that one? Most interest rates on credit cards were 5-8%, because they made their money on all those idiots buying hot tubs with no way to pay for it. After that bill was passed, never saw a rate below 12% again.

In fair disclosure, I only have "reward" cards, which most institutions expect to be paid off every month in exchange for the "generous" rewards
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I have one cash back card from BofA that had been at 7% until recently, still under 10%, that they gave me when I temporarily had a high checking account balance from the proceeds of a home sale. So for every three months of interest I pay on the card, they pay me back a little more than one month's worth. <shrug>

For decades I was a "deadbeat" paying off the balance every month until a confluence of events - some beyond my control - occurred over a short period of time. I just figure sometimes it's better to use the bank's money and pay the piper instead of laying out my savings that I might need for something unexpected. Or for retirement.
 
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The_Auryn said:
Still, I remember the days before 2007-9 when Congress passed the "Consumer protection act" Remember that one? Most interest rates on credit cards were 5-8%, because they made their money on all those idiots buying hot tubs with no way to pay for it. After that bill was passed, never saw a rate below 12% again.
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5 to 8%?? According to a variety of online sources, average credit card interest rates have been above 11.8% for at least the last 30 years. In the 1990s, average rates were as high as 18%+. In the 2000s and 2010s, average rates were as high as 15%+. Average rates now are around 18%.
 
stiligFox said:
Wait, they refuse using your Apple Pay on your phone, or even your physical Apple Card? It's a MasterCard... accepted anywhere MasterCard is accepted...
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Even the physical card gets rejected at a few places such as hotels, because it has no info besides the holder’s name printed on it, or US restaurants, because they still have to take away the cards to process the payment like it was still 1984 and Apple Card doesn’t always let them add the tip later on.
 
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krspkbl said:
Would have got one if was allowed but I‘m not american so **** me.
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You don’t have to be american. You just need credit history, a SSN (which you have if you’ve ever lived there) and a valid US mailing address. I’m not american and I have an Apple Card.
 
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alexandr said:
Because it doesn't have a number on it :)
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Also at restaurants in the US because they sometimes can’t adjust the check later on for the tip. They live in 1984, still needing to take the card down to the back of the restaurant or the kitchen to process the payment.
 
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ackmondual said:
I finally seen one IRL when a friend who's a big Apple fan (not just "i bought an iPhone years back", but "I have $15K worth of Mac hardware", if not more). It does look slick. Even got to touch/hold it :)

Me, I'm already set with a Costco Visa card, and will continue just "calling it a day" with that one.

Is the 3% just on Apple fare, or does it extend beyond that? How much in that case?
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It extends beyond Apple. There are a few other merchants that offer 3% besides Apple, such as Walgreens, ExxonMobile or ace hardware.
 
arkitect said:
I am curious: How is it a virtual card? There is a physical card isn't there?
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There is a physical card, but it has no number printed on it. If you want to book online using Apple Card then you have to use a virtual number that’s stored in the Wallet app, which is different from the one stored in the physical card’s chip & magnetic stripe for security. That’s why the hotel’s system may have been able to detect it wasn’t a physical card.
 
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lartola said:
Even the physical card gets rejected at a few places such as hotels, because it has no info besides the holder’s name printed on it, or US restaurants, because they still have to take away the cards to process the payment like it was still 1984 and Apple Card doesn’t always let them add the tip later on.
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That is really old fashioned!

In Europe all of this is done right at the table… and often completely contactless with Apple Pay.

Strange that the US is so behind the times. I would think it'd be leading the way! 🤷🏻‍♂️

lartola said:
There is a physical card, but it has no number printed on it. If you want to book online using Apple Card then you have to use a virtual number that’s stored in the Wallet app, which is different from the one stored in the physical card’s chip & magnetic stripe for security. That’s why the hotel’s system may have been able to detect it wasn’t a physical card.
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Thank you for explaining that. What a curious way to do it…
I can definitely see how it could run into problems if dealing with hotel reservations etc.
 
It would be interesting to see the Apple Card in the UK but I don’t see how they could entice enough users to make it worthwhile. Cashback already exists on a lot of credit cards and there’s plenty of low APR, so other than being Apple what could they bring to the table?
 
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Since they are so desperate for users they have now taken to advertising the card on lots of bottom-feeder platforms to those with low FICO's.
My bet is the plug in pulled on this by 2023.
 
lartola said:
Also at restaurants in the US because they sometimes can’t adjust the check later on for the tip. They live in 1984, still needing to take the card down to the back of the restaurant or the kitchen to process the payment.
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Personally I've never had any issues paying with the AC. When it first came out I had quite a few restaurant staff comment on it, but in a positive way. One waitress dropped it and the entire place turned to see what that was)))
 
alexandr said:
Because it doesn't have a number on it :)
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That’s the benefit. I have moved almost completely away from handing my cards to people. It’s so high risk when someone can take a phone picture in 2 seconds and be buying stuff online in no time.
 
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arkitect said:
I am curious: How is it a virtual card? There is a physical card isn't there?
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No clue honestly. I’m guessing that if you use it online/Apple Pay it’s considered virtual? If you look at your card number info in wallet it does have a title of “Virtual” but I had the physical card (and other cards as well) but they were giving us a hard time to put those cards on file for damages and were demanding that we cancel, eat a $30 cancellation fee and rebook with a non virtual card. (They eventually accepted the virtual card)
 
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