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Apple Card Said to Launch as Early as First Half of August
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Not anymore. That benefit (along with many others like Price Rewind and Travel Insurance) has been removed, effective September.
Even at 2% that is crap since it is easy to get a 1.5% card for everything. Hell even at 2% I will not ever use Apple CC at grocery store, gas or drug store as my primary card gets 5% at those. The non apple play places that card gives me either 1 or 1.5% so clearly it only gets MINOR pluses at Apple play and for Apple.
The security is a nice feature but over all not a huge risk to me. Big time since with my cards my phone alerts me every time something is charged to them just like Apple and it is unauthorized it is a matter of a single phone call and I do not pay anything and I get a new card issued. Annoying but not end of the world. The benefits to matter and to be blunt Apple cc benefits are not that great. I am still getting it because honestly for at least Apple purchases it pretty good and with no fee I will go for it. Plus it gets me a master card which I do not have yet for another backup card.
The people that overlook things like this do so because... they only can see what it may do for them not what it could do for Apple.
I’m not sure this card will prevent that. It still seems to have a mag stripe, which means the evil waitress can skim the card with a $10 reader.
This is going to happen. Absolutely. I personally think it's a sort of scummy business to be in, but no question they can make a TON of money. If they do make a car, they can sell the financing too.
With chip now, skimming is much less useful especially since places with goods you can resell, like the Apple Store and Best Buy, are chip. What a server in a restaurant can do is simply write down the name and numbers, then use it to make fraudulent purchases online. That problem, called cross-channel fraud, is solved by this card.
yeah but that 10 mag reader grabs all that same information with out having to risk writing it down.
Take for example the server. They can swap every card that night and all that info is just stored and they can do it online with what they swap.
Swapping it threw a mag reader and writing it down get the exact same info in easy to read text.
Swiping doesn't capture the CVV2 because it purposely isn't on the strip, it's only printed on the back. Without the CVV2, online purchases are harder. Apple solves this problem by completely removing the CVV2 from the card in any form.
Too bad I’m rebuilding credit.
Apple's highly anticipated launch of Apple Card is on schedule and will launch in the U.S. in just a few weeks, reports Bloomberg this morning.
According to the report, iPhone users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app, which will have built-in Apple Card support as part of the latest iOS 12.4 update.
Apple is partnering with Goldman Sachs for the card, which is going to be optimized for Apple Pay but will still work like a traditional credit card for all of your transactions. Apple's virtual credit card will also be available as a physical titanium card for use at merchants that don't accept Apple Pay.
According to today's report, Apple expressed misgivings in May about the underlying technology Goldman Sachs had developed to power the credit card, and Apple asked the bank for changes to be made.
However, Apple Card's summer launch still appears to be on track, so Goldman Sachs presumably allayed Apple's concerns in time. The bank is responsible for the underlying infrastructure, managing payment disputes, handling transaction data and collating information for monthly statements.
Thousands of Apple employees have been testing the Apple Card, which offers 3% cash back on Apple purchases, 2% cash back on all Apple Pay transactions, and 1% cash back on all other purchases.
According to Apple, signing up for Apple Card will be as simple as opening up the Wallet app, tapping on the Apple Card interface, and walking through the activation steps. Purchases are tracked in the Wallet app, providing a breakdown of spending across different categories like health, food, shopping, and more.
Bloomberg says Apple has also been discussing an expansion into Europe with financial regulators.
For a look at the Apple Card and what to expect when it launches, make sure to check out our dedicated Apple Card guide.
Article Link: Apple Card Said to Launch as Early as First Half of August
Some online retailers don't need CVV2 (I'm looking at you, Amazon).
That said, I'm sure not having card info on the physical card does help somewhat, but that's mainly because cashiers/servers swiping/inserting for customers is unfortunately still quite the norm with certain merchant categories in the US (and likely always will be, barring, say, widespread restaurant support for AP with their own apps or websites).
I dont think you know what you're talking about here. Again, please view it from a U.S. perspective, not Singapore or wherever you live now.
No it does not. You might be referring to certain rewards cards, but the segment this Apple card is competing against do not have annual fees.
From what I've heard you can choose to generate a new number at any time, but said number remains valid until you do that. We'll see if that's actually the case I suppose.
When this launches, you will truely be able to call yourself a "card-carrying fanboi" 
Username nomen est omen.
Given the us has the most competitive credit card market in the world wrt annual card fees, service fees, and rewards, much better than overseas markets that I am aware of, I think that if the Apple Card enters foreign markets with most of its features intact (I’m thinking rewards will be lower given that Europe by law limits transaction fee %, so there is less to reward from, that customers will flock to Apple Card if they can eliminate an annual card fee, etc.
Hmm, I stand corrected then. Though if this card does launch in Singapore and is able to retain the same benefits, I do see myself picking it up because why not?
Agree on infrastructure but not on antitrust.
Apple had banks bid on underwriting the business. Citi for instance passed because they couldn’t see profit in it (esp since they have big business low margin Costco), Goldman otoh wants to enter retail customer banking and saw this as a springboard to enter this biz by leveraging the Apple name.
Re Infra:
Apple has no interest in losing focus internally managing low margin non strategic vertical integration businesses, and that is what card networks are. MC knows their business well and there is not a lot that Apple could contribute to make a splashy profitable entry as yet another network or transaction processor.
Apple needs a card to spur banking cartels in some markets to add Apple Pay (See Switzerland), as well as a way for some customers that traditionally wouldn’t get, or be able to get, a card to get one. Having an Apple Card that is marginally competitive is a sticky strategic advantage intended more to keep customers in the gold than to generate big profits.
It also offers the option of downstream bolt on financing businesses for big retail banking activities like car and home loans (smaller margins but big revenues) that Apple could finance out of its current cash pile.
Re Anti trust:
Given that Apple Pay will support any card that signs up to well known terms, Apple is not blocking competition unless it gains large market share and then changes those terms or restricts customer choice or access to its competition. Apple could easily cross that same line in its partnership with Goldman as on its own, so its again a question of leveraging the infrastructure, or interest in a competent partner who can create infrastructure, in order to achieve a strategic goal with a minimum of direct detail work.
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Keep in mind, Apple is aiming at a low friction application process that will maximize success of getting a card with a minimum of payment default risk. We’ll see but maybe even those with bad fico may be able to get a card (low limit and high interest to limit risk and cover risk premium). This offers the possibility for lots of young people to get cards easily. This builds loyalty, or so called stickiness. If you like your Apple Card but it’s not offered on a competitor’s device, that may be enough for a customer to not switch from an iPhone etc.
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Why not?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance...99/Goldman-Sachs-gets-UK-banking-licence.html
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Think how we feel in Australia.
Don’t be so glum.
https://australianfintech.com.au/goldman-sachs-online-retail-bank-australia/
What card, pray tell, offers a fixed 5% for groceries, gas, pharmacy?
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If it does what I need it to do better than the competition, why would I begrudge Apple also benefiting for providing me my benefit?
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The 2 vs 1% feature is to encourage Apple Pay usage, so laggard retailers and merchants move to nfc terminals. In discovers case, they don’t really care about the method, so there is no point in giving away a % for Apple Pay usage.
When I get a new card I do these:
0. If it is contactless, I call the issuer back and ask for one with chip but no antenna, Then:
1. Put it in Apple Pay.
2. Put it in Safari Autofill. In the description section I follow card name with the card’s codes:
1234/567/8910, i.e.
CVC-front(AMEX)/CVC-back(all)/PIN info.
3. Scan it front and back into a pdf in notes. (Backup for info in Safari Autofill).
4. If I’m going to carry it, I scrape off the codes on the front and rear making them unreadable. Also any info like frequent flyer or loyalty code is a goner. My loyalty codes are either in the associated apps, as well as noted in the notes section at the bottom of my contacts cards, and when I rarely need the cvc code, i go into settings behind another fingerprint to get it (also storing it here makes it easily available for online purchases.)(prevents loss of this info is card is lost or photographed.)
5. if Antenna free option isn’t possible, I hold it up to a quartz light and locate the antenna, then use a leather punch to punch a hole thru the card to sever the antenna. (Prevents wireless skimming.)
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Depending on what hurt your fico score, this is not necessarily a bad thing to get. YMMV.
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There are good free rewards cards available in the USA, it’s a very competitive market.
Not everybody is a Costco member, but their free card offers 4% on gas, 3% travel and restaurants, 2% Costco, 1% elsewhere.
Even AMEX offers a Delta airlines blue card without fees that offers decent Skymiles rewards 1mi/$, 2mi/$ in restaurants.
To start it makes entry much easier. If it is successful and Apple learns enough, they can eventually internalize these operations if it offers a justifiable return. One day Apple will need a banking arm to continue profit growth but that’s down the road.
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Sooner. This initiative is central to Goldman opening retail banking arm. GS has already earmarked a quarter of a billion dollars for this initiative, and has a worldwide local banking presence (licenses), so GS will be eager to roll out into the bigger and profitable markets pretty quickly.