As a European it's also hard to understand for me that Americans pay for so much stuff with credit cards (in other words: money that you don't have) and just apply for a new one as soon as the old one is maxed out (correct me if I'm wrong about this though). If I want to have something I save up for it and then buy it when I'm actually able to pay for it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Launches 'Path to Apple Card' Program to Help Declined Applicants Get Approved
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Oh I am on credit karma (and clearscore) my score was 690/710 (EU). So now I just pop the £16.67 a month into my fiancé's account to build up his score.
Hopefully this helps change some behaviors. But really, if you have bad credit, you should probably be buying a used or refurbished Apple device from somewhere that costs less than Apple. Or just use a PC and a prepaid flip phone like I did when I was young and starting out and couldn't afford Macs or smart phones (there were no iPhones back then). I'm pretty sure you can still get flip phones because my grandpa got one prepaid a couple years ago.
It's far better to get your credit straightened out first so you'll pay lower interest rates when you do have to get a loan, such as for a car or a house. But even for a car you can save up cash and buy a used one. I'm on my third car since high school and have never had a car loan or a new car. It's really amazing what you can do if you develop a budget and stick to it. It also helps if you're good a spreadsheets and use something like Mint to track things.
When my wife and I were first married when I was in college, we both lived off of about $25K per year combined and never missed a payment and were even able to go on some road trips such as Yellowstone and I was able to get some decent photography gear and a new iPhone every year and bought a new 15" MacBook Pro and the first iPad. It's possible to do it without racking up a lot of debt if you're smart about it.
It's far better to get your credit straightened out first so you'll pay lower interest rates when you do have to get a loan, such as for a car or a house. But even for a car you can save up cash and buy a used one. I'm on my third car since high school and have never had a car loan or a new car. It's really amazing what you can do if you develop a budget and stick to it. It also helps if you're good a spreadsheets and use something like Mint to track things.
When my wife and I were first married when I was in college, we both lived off of about $25K per year combined and never missed a payment and were even able to go on some road trips such as Yellowstone and I was able to get some decent photography gear and a new iPhone every year and bought a new 15" MacBook Pro and the first iPad. It's possible to do it without racking up a lot of debt if you're smart about it.
You do pay for it one way or the other.
Same as with every rebate, it's all cooked into the prices. Sure if you do like the ladies on those couponing shows you might end up in the plus (with a truckload of work) but everyone else is just getting 50ct back for every $ they had been skimmed of before.
This is so cool. I know the company is doing this for hopeful future financial benefits but I can’t think of another company that would help get people get approved. I’m in a tiny bit of debt but I’m slowly paying it off and this card has been my goal so it’s good to see that declined people can eventually get approved.
Article is inaccurate, its an invitation program, its not open to everyone.
From the "About path to apple card" page, "If your Apple Card application was declined, you might receive an opportunity to enroll in Path to Apple Card if Goldman Sachs determines that you could meet the requirements for approval after you complete the steps in your program. "
From the "About path to apple card" page, "If your Apple Card application was declined, you might receive an opportunity to enroll in Path to Apple Card if Goldman Sachs determines that you could meet the requirements for approval after you complete the steps in your program. "
Tell that to my power company. Once or twice per year their new bill dates and due dates align so that the bill for next month goes out before they take the payment. Their system is too stupid to deal with this and I have to manually go in and cancel auto-pay and resubmit the payment, or else I'll double-pay.
It's screwups like this that cause smart people to be wary.
Part of this should be providing links directly to where credit reports can be found, which section of the report the item being worked on pertains to, Why that section is important, and where to find information on the rest of the report.
Also, start people off with lower limits that go through this program and help them learn how to use the tools provided to stay on track (I don’t have this card, but if I remember right there’s a bunch of analytics provided with the statements. Is there a learning curve on this or any detailed help on how to read?). Might be a lot to ask, but it’s not great to get someone in a space to get approved for this only to not help them maintain it (seems kind of like explaining to someone how swimming works and that you need a swim suit to get in the water, then tossing them in the pool with a large rock).
Also, start people off with lower limits that go through this program and help them learn how to use the tools provided to stay on track (I don’t have this card, but if I remember right there’s a bunch of analytics provided with the statements. Is there a learning curve on this or any detailed help on how to read?). Might be a lot to ask, but it’s not great to get someone in a space to get approved for this only to not help them maintain it (seems kind of like explaining to someone how swimming works and that you need a swim suit to get in the water, then tossing them in the pool with a large rock).
In the end if I used a debit card id have spent the same. Prices may be slightly lower in Europe with lower merchant fees but I doubt it would be enough to come out ahead vs my current rewards.
Some people just don't like the automated nature of it all, some want that little bit of control that clicking "pay now" gives them.
A lot of Americans pay in full each month and take advantage of the rewards however some do max out the cards and keep piling up debt until they declare bankruptcy then repeat 5-7 years later.
I'm the type of person that credit card companies hate... I pay my bills in full every month while I rack up the cashback for making use of the card.
If I can buy something on the card, it goes on the card... I just don't let it get away from me.
Not necessarily. A lot of people use credit cards for their rewards and not because they don't have money to pay for it. Credit cards in the US offer better rewards than credit cards in Europe. Take the Apple Card for example. Why would I pay $1,000 for an iPhone with cash or a debit card when I can use the Apple Card and get $30 (3%) back? I'll pay off my credit card bill and I've essentially saved $30 simply by paying with a credit card.
Paying with a credit card != using money I don't have
If your credit is so bad that you can’t get an Apple Card you should definetly not be looking for credit cards.
This is why all banks should be abolished. There should only be once bank account with the federal government, who loan money for minuscule percentages (1-5%), instead of the 12-30% you see on credit cards and personal loans. I don't see why normal folk should be subject to this, when businesses get the perks of low interest rates. You can talk risk, etc. but currently it's robbery.
You've obviously had no experience in getting business credit. In order to get a lousy credit card for a business, without a personal guarantee, your business needs around $10 million of annual revenue. This translates to, on average, of a 100 employees.
When you have a income in $100s of millions and are subject to independent auditors, come back and complain about the interest rate you're getting.
Then why shouldn't the same policies apply to personal credit? It's a double edged sword.
I think this should be taught at school. Most people don't have the discipline or even understanding what debt actually means so we constantly see people buying stuff on their CC because they feel its like they 'have' the money only to later see them struggling with payments etc. Its hard to resist the temptation when we have this plastic thing that can buy us anything and we face the consequences after a while. It makes us feel as those two things are not connected and often people don't learn from this and keep doing the destructive behaviour their whole life. Reducing quality of life as the struggle is a burden on their everyday life. I feel that CC was the worst financial invention. I think its safe to say that without it most people would be better off and have a better quality of life.
So yeah, this should be taught at school as a 'life skill'. Along with cooking, taxes etc.
I think most people would appreciate it
Checking accounts suck. The money from debit transactions don't clear immediately, so there's often an illusion that you have more or less than you actually have and it's off for a few days. You can write a check but maybe someone doesn't deposit it for 90 days.
To deal with that all, your options are:
1 - Have a check book (who does that?)
2 - Keep too much money in your checking account, where it's barely getting any interest.
3 - Risk having to pay overdraft fees.
Cash also sucks. It generates no interest, wastes time (slowing down transactions and counting/keeping track of it), and risks being lost or stolen.
Credit accounts are much better. As long as you pay it off every 2-4 weeks, interest only gets charged every 8 weeks. Leave your money in stocks or savings or bonds or wherever you can be on the receiving end of interest and just pay it off immediately.
Never do minimum payments on credit cards - that should be avoided just like overdraft fees on a debit account.
The two things people need to be taught are:
1 - Be aware of the interest on debts. If your interest on a debt is over ~5%, be aggressive about paying it off. Don't settle for minimum payments on those. Credit card should be paid in full every month.
2 - Have a weekly discretionary budget. Don't spend more than that. If you run out of the budget before the week is over, you're stuck with making yourself sandwiches or ramen noodles - no more fun food or eating out.
If a third thing were to be taught, I'd probably say something about having an emergency fund to cover at least 3 months of bills, and don't just leave the rest of the money piling up in a low interest saving account - once your emergency fund has all the money it needs in it, put your other money into stocks, MMSAs, bonds, etc...
One of the only reasons many small businesses can get loans is because they are backed (mostly) by the government.
No, you're the type of person everyone should hate. We should all take a look at where that cashback is coming from. It's bogus. We are taking money from merchants and smaller businesses, who must in turn, raise prices. The banks love that behavior.
I have an 847/850 credit rating and Tim Cook's buddies at the bank declined my application. Jajajajajaja! I can only guess who was responsible for writing the approval algorithm. Jajajajajajaja!
A bankruptcy sticks to your name. You can't get rid of it except with time.
Corporate credit is only associated with the company's name. Small businesses can easily declare bankruptcy and close and the officers can start a new company with no debts or record. It's a few hundred dollars to start a new company.
That's why it's not comparable. It's much harder to get credit for companies. An average small restaurant or retail store, if they were to get credit, would be paying easily 30-50% APR (merchant cash advances).
You're looking at the largest, most highly regulated public companies and banks. That's not the majority of businesses.
Exactly. mine lists a reason of severe delinquency, and I haven't been late at all in years. Is there somewhere you go if you were recently denied, or do you just have to try again? And I wonder if it is if you do all these to the T, you ARE in, or you COULD be in.
Interest rates really are not the problem its people living way beyond their means the government offering low rates wouldnt stop some 18 year old from borrowing $40k for a new sports car. If they decide who can borrow money based on income or some other statistic your going to run into the same issues we have now but instead of higher rates your looking at higher taxes or growing the national debt which is its own current time bomb once we lose reserve currency status.Credit unions in my opinion are the best solution require some reason for everyone to join and hopefully they will uphold their commitments for the good of the community they are a part of ive seen people come back to mine to repay debts after bankruptcy with no legal need to.
I really like this approach as most people (including myself when I was younger ick) could generally use more information on good credit practices. It also seems a little "keep trying to give us your money" to people who probably shouldn't be spending it on Apple products, but at least it has some good sides.