Apple Card Turns Seven With Big Change Ahead

[thelion7]

Seven years only in US!

I could be completely wrong but Chase does operate in the UK so once the contract changes Apple might then have the means to launch in the UK too at least.

And after that they might try to expand to Europe from there assuming chase continues to expand in other countries.

Also because we’re not in the EU anymore we Apple dont have as many hoops to jump through. At least not the ones that are in place for European countries.

Which is why Siri AI works in the UK but not in Europe (yet).

Basically what I’m saying is that the chase partnership might make expansion outside of the US more of a possibility in future?

 

[mwhite]

Eh I blame both of them. From my recollection this was GS's first (and only) consumer credit card, so they didn't have the expertise to know that the terms Apple wanted for the card weren't exactly economically viable. It is possible to price cards in such a way that you can have loose approval terms and high charge offs but still be profitable. Apple's instance on no fees likely killed any chance of that.

I would wager that Apple probably approached a variety of banks with more experience in the consumer card space and those banks most likely told Apple that what they wanted wouldn't be economically viable.

No, GS is not that stupid. They didn't go into the business blind. They went along with it anyway because they thought working with Apple would look good for them. They also wanted to boost business for their Marcus savings accounts.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Who is giving you 4% on what? On all purchases without an annual fee?

https://www.verizon.com/financial-services/verizon-visa-card/ - 4% on groceries, restaurants, gas, and ev charging. I also have Verizon Wireless so I roll this into my bill every month. It’s our primary card for groceries.

So to answer your question - not on all, but on a few things.

 

[mwhite]

I really liked my Apple Card, but it can't be transferred, so I was forced to close mine when I migrated to a new Apple account. Planned to reapply after the new bank partnership took place, but now get 3% back on groceries/dining from Capital One (pretty much all I use a card for), so I'm set for now.

What do you mean, you migrated to a new Apple Account?

 

[mattopotamus]

Who is giving you 4% on what? On all purchases without an annual fee?

no one. The best card I have found for cash back is Robinhood Gold. You have to have their gold subscription, $50/yr, but that is easily covered in cash back form. It's 3% on all purchases. I'm sure it will get nerfed soon. They do everything in their power to encourage you to redeem points for anything other than cash back.

 

[minik]

With Big Change Ahead?

 

[mwhite]

https://www.verizon.com/financial-services/verizon-visa-card/ - 4% on groceries, restaurants, gas, and ev charging. I also have Verizon Wireless so I roll this into my bill every month. It’s our primary card for groceries.

So to answer your question - not on all, but on a few things.

Can you cash out your cash back directly into a checking or savings account? Or do they force you to use it for statement credits only? There are many cash back cards that either force you to only use the cash back as a statement credit, or make it difficult/inconvenient to cash out by sending the cash back to you by check (sleaze bag Capital One). Also, Apple lets you put your cash back on the Apple Cash card where you can spend it using the Apple Cash card or just park it until you decide how you want to use it: spend it from the Apple Cash card, put it towards your balance, automatically deposit it into a Marcus Goldman Sachs savings account, or cash out and deposit it into the checking or savings account of your choice.

For what it's worth, everyone is different. I live in New York. I don't have or need a car, so don't care about gas or EV charging. I also very rarely eat out at restaurants. Only thing I do from that list is buy groceries.

 

[bradman83]

What do you mean, you migrated to a new Apple Account?

Probably had the previous Apple branded card that was co-issued with Barclays. Those were discontinued when the GS Apple Card was launched but the customers were never migrated, they were given a different Barclays card instead and would have had to re-apply for the GS Apple Card from scratch.

 

[CharlesShaw]

What do you mean, you migrated to a new Apple Account?

Edit: I should have said "Apple ID" because Apple Card is tied permanently to an Apple Account (Apple ID).

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Kinda disappointed TBH, since I already have so many Visa cards. Having a Mastercard available was always a nice option. That, and I hate Chase customer service.

 

[jz0309]

Apple Card is one of my most favorite credit cards. Granted, it doesn’t give me the rewards my others do (2% vs 4%) but it is convenient and easy to use. I like my Chase cards too so if it goes to Chase, works for me.

Big thing for me is the convenience factor of seeing things on my iPhone - ease of transferring money between Apple Cash, Apple Card, etc.

I do like the convenience of managing it thru the wallet app, and as you say, transferring money.
I do however find my other cards just as easy to use via Apple Pay on my AW, so for the most part I do use the cards that offer the best rewards...

 

[BigMcGuire]

Can you cash out your cash back directly into a checking or savings account? Or do they force you to use it for statement credits only? There are many cash back cards that either force you to only use the cash back as a statement credit, or make it difficult/inconvenient to cash out by sending the cash back to you by check (sleaze bag Capital One). Also, Apple lets you put your cash back on the Apple Cash card where you can spend it using the Apple Cash card or just park it until you decide how you want to use it: spend it from the Apple Cash card, put it towards your balance, automatically deposit it into a Marcus Goldman Sachs savings account, or cash out and deposit it into the checking or savings account of your choice.

For what it's worth, everyone is different. I live in New York. I don't have or need a car, so don't care about gas or EV charging. I also very rarely eat out at restaurants. Only thing I do from that list is buy groceries.

Aha. I see where the problem is. My brain was like 4% rewards! But I can only ever use it against my Verizon bill. I see how that won’t work for everyone - sorry bout that.

Yeah we’ve cut our restaurant purchases to near 0, we just use it for groceries and EV charging now.

The moment I leave Verizon - Apple will be our primary card - we use it for anything not groceries, restaurant, charging. (So it is pretty much our primary). Also love the rewards to savings 😀

 

[mwhite]

no one. The best card I have found for cash back is Robinhood Gold. You have to have their gold subscription, $50/yr, but that is easily covered in cash back form. It's 3% on all purchases. I'm sure it will get nerfed soon. They do everything in their power to encourage you to redeem points for anything other than cash back.

And if you want to cash out your cash back, how do you do it? And I would never pay an annual fee for a cash back card. It completely defeats the purpose.

 

[jimbobb24]

One of my favorite apple products. The ease of payments, the built in reminders. It's been great for us.

 

[mk313]

Kinda disappointed TBH, since I already have so many Visa cards. Having a Mastercard available was always a nice option. That, and I hate Chase customer service.

The Apple Card is staying a Mastercard.

 

[bradman83]

Kinda disappointed TBH, since I already have so many Visa cards. Having a Mastercard available was always a nice option. That, and I hate Chase customer service.

The article says the Apple Card will remain on the Mastercard network after the transition. While Chase issues mostly Visas they do have a few Mastercard products in their portfolio already (mostly co-branded cards like the Apple Card).

 

[mwhite]

I could be completely wrong but Chase does operate in the UK so once the contract changes Apple might then have the means to launch in the UK too at least.

And after that they might try to expand to Europe from there assuming chase continues to expand in other countries.

Also because we’re not in the EU anymore we Apple dont have as many hoops to jump through. At least not the ones that are in place for European countries.

Which is why Siri AI works in the UK but not in Europe (yet).

Basically what I’m saying is that the chase partnership might make expansion outside of the US more of a possibility in future?

Expand to Europe? 🤣🤣🤣

Not worth it with all the European Commission bureaucracy. Dollars to doughnuts the EC will find some way to interfere. Even Britain probably isn't worth it.

 

[Cirlonde]

From what I can gather, nothing should change as far as features or typical user experiences. But when and if you need to contact the customer support, I presume Chase will be much better equipped than Goldman Sachs, which has been terrible from what I read.

I'm only one anecdotal report, but I had to contact Goldman Sachs customer service a few weeks ago to deal with my Marcus Savings Account that is through them. I was astounded at how pleasant the experience was! Short phone wait time, clear phone connection made everyone easy to understand and the person I spoke with was so kind and helpful.

 

[Robert.Walter]

They won’t bring the iCard to the EU until the EU allows them to bring back the Lightning connector!

🤣
(TBH I actually like the usb-c way more than I thought I would. Commonality across so many devices, and reversible common connectors at both ends of a cable is quite awesome).

 

[NightFox]

I could be completely wrong but Chase does operate in the UK so once the contract changes Apple might then have the means to launch in the UK too at least.

Seven years only in US!

They won’t bring the iCard to the EU until the EU allows them to bring back the Lightning connector!

Disappointing to see that it has still not expanded outside US. Don't think it will ever be available in my country.

If you're all wanting to see Apple's card available outside of the US because you think you'll be getting similar offers and cashback deals, then you're going to be disappointed. In the US, card issuers typically charge merchants transaction fees of around 2-3.5% which means they've got plenty of profit on every transaction to occasionally offer some back to consumers as an incentive. However, in many other countries the transaction fees are capped at a much lower rate, e.g. 0.2% for debit cards in the EU, so there's no nice big slice of every transaction to fund things like this. Likewise, being a card issuer outside the US is not as financially attractive to companies like Apple as the transaction income is relatively low.

TL;DR, cashback offers are funded by higher transaction fees (that are typically passed on to the consumer) in the USA.

 

[Robert.Walter]

I'm only one anecdotal report, but I had to contact Goldman Sachs customer service a few weeks ago to deal with my Marcus Savings Account that is through them. I was astounded at how pleasant the experience was! Short phone wait time, clear phone connection made everyone easy to understand and the person I spoke with was so kind and helpful.

Just don’t try to settle the estate of a deceased person and try to get GS to release funds from a HYSA. What a nightmare!

 

[Robert.Walter]

If you're all wanting to see Apple's card available outside of the US because you think you'll be getting similar offers and cashback deals, then you're going to be disappointed. In the US, card issuers typically charge merchants transaction fees of around 2-3.5% which means they've got plenty of profit on every transaction to occasionally offer some back to consumers as an incentive. However, in many other countries the transaction fees are capped at a much lower rate, e.g. 0.2% for debit cards in the EU, so there's no nice big slice of every transactionto fund things like this. Likewise, being a card issuer outside the US is not as financially attractive to companies like Apple as the transaction income is relatively low.

TL;DR, cashback offers are funded by higher transaction fees (that are typically passed on to the consumer) in the USA.

Thanks for writing this, I was just about to do similar but not as well as you have here!

 

[jz0309]

Aha. I see where the problem is. My brain was like 4% rewards! But I can only ever use it against my Verizon bill. I see how that won’t work for everyone - sorry bout that.

Yeah we’ve cut our restaurant purchases to near 0, we just use it for groceries and EV charging now.

The moment I leave Verizon - Apple will be our primary card - we use it for anything not groceries, restaurant, charging. (So it is pretty much our primary). Also love the rewards to savings 😀

When I switched back to VZ earlier this year I did get the card, and you can also use it for purchases at VZ if you want to.
The VZ monthly bill is a constant, thus far this year I've accumulated $160+ on groceries and restaurants, so applying that to the bill is as nice an option as getting cash back for me.
But, this card is only useful when you're with VZ.

 

[icerabbit]

Strangely enough, still no word on the HYSA part ...

The credit card is only a day to day thing, with the 3% on Apple purchases. There are plenty of rewards cards.

But a good number of people have a fair bit of money saved in the savings account. And, Chase gives nothing for interest. So, it would be nice to know, how the savings account is being handled. Or if we should start planning to move the savings to another HYSA.

 

[TwoBytes]

Apple got into TV and made that global quicker than credit cards which they’ve kept to the US only. What a world we live in where streaming is more lucrative