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Please explain why someone would be paying more for the gadget if they chose free financing over cash.

That isn't how the Time Value of Money works.
No, they do it to make money by giving incentives for people to buy things.
Because that whole financial system behind the scenes are not working for free and is making a profit. Apple might be paying directly for this. And consumers are then paying indirectly because Apple is not a charity.
 
Because that whole financial system behind the scenes are not working for free and is making a profit. Apple might be paying directly for this. And consumers are then paying indirectly because Apple is not a charity.
Still doesn't explain why you would be paying more for choosing not paying cash. The deal would be there regardless, so you might as well take advantage of the situation.
 
If you want a guaranteed positive return, then High Yield Checking Accounts would work.

So easy, you don't have to do anything, just let the cash sit there.
Series I-bonds.. currently yielding ~ 9.5%. Max 10K$ per person/yr per household, but there are ways to double and triple that. But yes, not short duration.
 
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As with everything new Wallet related this will never leave the US, Apple Card/Cash which have been out for years and the new Tap to Pay for example is also US only.

Don't ever expect driving licenses in Wallet in the EU either.
I hope you're wrong about this, as would like to see in the UK. What makes you so sure this will never happen?
 
If you want a guaranteed positive return, then High Yield Checking Accounts would work.

So easy, you don't have to do anything, just let the cash sit there
Checking account? Like paper check? Is that still a thing in US? I haven’t seen a check in 20 years here in Denmark.

But I assume everyone is just getting rich lending money at 0% interest and putting them on checking accounts? Brilliant.
 
Series I-bonds.. currently yielding ~ 9.5%. Max 10K$ per person/yr per household, but there are ways to double and triple that. But yes, not short duration.
I did just that a couple months ago. Not a bad deal at all!
 
Still doesn't explain why you would be paying more for choosing not paying cash. The deal would be there regardless, so you might as well take advantage of the situation.
Not you directly as an individual of course. But consumers on average. All of you are paying indirectly to this financial circus
 
Checking account? Like paper check? Is that still a thing in US? I haven’t seen a check in 20 years here in Denmark.
Yeah, it is still a thing. It is how most people pay their bills in the US. Although, most transactions are done electronically, and paper checks are not used often. I don't even have paper checks anymore.

I am sure there is an equivalent in Denmark, probably just named differently.

How would one pay their Apple Card bill in Denmark? Where would the money come from?

But I assume everyone is just getting rich lending money at 0% interest and putting them on checking accounts? Brilliant.
I don't know about getting rich, as there are much better ways to invest, but an easy, risk-free, hands off way is high yield checking accounts.

Even if you made $20 in a year from paying over time versus cash, that is an extra $20 that took no effort to make. Cash back credit cards can easily make $100s from using versus paying cash and getting nothing extra for it.
 
Checking account? Like paper check? Is that still a thing in US? I haven’t seen a check in 20 years here in Denmark.

But I assume everyone is just getting rich lending money at 0% interest and putting them on checking accounts? Brilliant.
No, not necessarily a paper check. Some people use paper checks but it’s basically just a name for an account that allows more monthly withdrawals than does a savings account.

It‘s not a question of getting rich, any more that I get rich from credit card rewards, but if I can make some interest on my money while not paying any, it adds up in my favor.
 
Because Americans want it right now -- instant gratification. Amazon Prime has also made Americans to expect items to arrive instantly within 2 days 😀
i only pay with my credit card knowing I can afford to pay it off. I can see this being useful if you pay it off with a credit card pretty much could help some new people with starting credit; but my guess is this feature will be only available with bank accounts connected to apple pay
 
Checking account? Like paper check? Is that still a thing in US? I haven’t seen a check in 20 years here in Denmark.

Checking accounts in the US don't require you to use paper checks... not sure why you'd think that?
 
Yeah, it is still a thing. It is how most people pay their bills in the US. Although, most transactions are done electronically, and paper checks are not used often. I don't even have paper checks anymore.

I am sure there is an equivalent in Denmark, probably just named differently.

How would one pay their Apple Card bill in Denmark? Where would the money come from?


I don't know about getting rich, as there are much better ways to invest, but an easy, risk-free, hands off way is high yield checking accounts.

Even if you made $20 in a year from paying over time versus cash, that is an extra $20 that took no effort to make. Cash back credit cards can easily make $100s from using versus paying cash and getting nothing extra for it.
Most people I know in Denmark don’t do credit cards. They use debit cards instead. Credit cards are mostly either for showing off or the first step towards a lot of debt for those that cannot handle it.

Obviously for buying a house or a car most would need a long term loan. But for general consumption no.

Most transactions are done electronically.

We’re starting to see more and more initiatives from the financial world about borrowing money for consumption: Eg buy a new tv and pay back monthly. Normally there’s a catch so the total amount is somehow higher. Or that credit company has made a deal with the shop to offer it free, but then the shop is paying some fee (which they’ll undisclosed put on top of everything they sell) or the credit company is betting that 10% will miss a payment so they can hit them hard with fees or something like that.

Then there’s all the more grey loans. 1000$ loan now. End up paying back 2000$ (but that’s in the fine print). Or payback 1000$ unless you miss a payment and we’ll hit you hard with 30% interest or a lot of fees.

They are pushing all these things for a reason and it’s not a charity. They are doing it because they want a cut of your money.
 
I can see why they'd create this service


Yeah, $90Bn/yr in transactions is nothing to sneeze at...

... and I have to laugh at the article author writing "Apple Pay usage has only increased by one percentage point in six years"...

Sloppy. C'mon, let's apply some basic critical thinking...

There's no mention of what % of owners had activated Apple Pay in either 2015 or 2019, and thus there's no data as to how many more people actually use Apple Pay. It's meaningless that 5.1% of an unknown number of people used Apple Pay in 2015 and 6.1% of a different unknown number of people used Apple Pay in 2019. 5.1% of X doesn't compare to 6.1% of Y.

The one useful figure is the 18x increase in transaction value from $5Bn/yr to $90Bn/yr.


Seven years after Apple Pay launched in September 2014, 93.9 percent of consumers with Apple Pay activated on their iPhone do not use it to pay for in-store purchases, meaning that only 6.1 percent do.

In 2015, the year following Apple Pay's launch, PYMNTS found that Apple Pay usage was just 5.1 percent among those that had the feature activated. This means that Apple Pay usage has only increased by one percentage point in six years.

The growth of Apple Pay in this time may be attributed to more contactless terminals in stores and more users having iPhone models with an NFC coil to facilitate Apple Pay, rather than increased usage. Since 2015, the total amount of Apple Pay transactions at U.S. retail stores has increased from an estimated $5 billion to $90 billion this year.
 
Oh… I forgot to mention: there’s a higher fee on credit card payments than debit cards. Normally the fee on debit cards is so small that the consumer will only pay it indirectly through the shop.
 
Oh… I forgot to mention: there’s a higher fee on credit card payments than debit cards. Normally the fee on debit cards is so small that the consumer will only pay it indirectly through the shop.

In the US there are different levels of consumer protection for credit card transactions vs debit card transactions, with the former having a somewhat higher level of protection in that fraudulent charges won't empty your bank account -- thereby blowing up your scheduled rent payment or other stuff.

Consumers typically don't see any difference in price whether using credit or debit - I'm sure it exists somewhere but I've not noticed in the places I frequent. The merchants do see the cost though.

Some credit cards in the US have attractive incentives - such as a card I have provides 2% cash back on all my transactions. That's money in my pocket.

Of course I also have the discipline to not spend more than I can pay off interest-free every month, and I pay no fee for the card.

As for checking accounts - they're often differentiated in the US from Savings accounts in that Checking is intended for a higher transaction volume -- even when those transactions are primarily electronic whether via the bank's billpay interface or via ACH transfers (push or pull).
 
You don't actually PAY the installment. It's just charged to your Apple Card / other credit card.

For example,
Instead of buying something for $1000 on June 1, you'd get a charge of
$250 on June 1
$250 on June 14
$250 on June 28
$250 on July 12

You make your payments on your regular date through your regular card.
So if your regular card gets declined once you've already got the item, who's ending up out of pocket? Apple? Or the vendor?

If you're making a payment on your regular card, you're paying the instalment.
 
So if your regular card gets declined once you've already got the item, who's ending up out of pocket? Apple? Or the vendor?

If you're making a payment on your regular card, you're paying the instalment.
Apple probably puts a hold on the card for the full amount, then charges 1/4 of the hold each time. I don't know! Of course Apple has thought of this! And of course YOU are responsible for it.

You DO know that even if you close your card, recurring charges (like say a gym membership) will STILL be charged to the card, and you'll STILL be responsible, right?
 
Don’t both of those require a small transaction fee other than a special promo going on?
No experience with AE but I've used paypal's many times and there is no fee to the customer, same with Klarna, afterpay
 
Some credit cards in the US have attractive incentives - such as a card I have provides 2% cash back on all my transactions. That's money in my pocket.

Of course I also have the discipline to not spend more than I can pay off interest-free every month, and I pay no fee for the card.
Have you ever wondered why they have these incentives? I’m pretty sure it’s not because they just like giving away money for free.

I guess they’re betting on x% of customers NOT having the required discipline/capabilities to handle it. These will pay a lot in interest/fee and a small portion of this is distributed as cash backs to those who are lucky/disciplined enough to be able to pay. The rest will be profit for the credit card company.

Btw we have same security/risk on debit and credit cards in Denmark wrt fraud. Unless you acted really stupid the bank will cover your loss.
 
Most people I know in Denmark don’t do credit cards. They use debit cards instead.
Where does the money come from when you use debit cards?


They are pushing all these things for a reason and it’s not a charity. They are doing it because they want a cut of your money.
Of course it is done to make more money, that doesn't mean that the person using credit can't benefit as well.

Oh… I forgot to mention: there’s a higher fee on credit card payments than debit cards. Normally the fee on debit cards is so small that the consumer will only pay it indirectly through the shop.
In the US for most things, the higher fee is built into the price, so you are paying the CC payment fee regardless of payment method.

Only makes sense to take advantage of that, and use a cash back credit card or some other reward or free financing, and make a little bit back.

We’re starting to see more and more initiatives from the financial world about borrowing money for consumption: Eg buy a new tv and pay back monthly. Normally there’s a catch so the total amount is somehow higher. Or that credit company has made a deal with the shop to offer it free, but then the shop is paying some fee (which they’ll undisclosed put on top of everything they sell) or the credit company is betting that 10% will miss a payment so they can hit them hard with fees or something like that.

Then there’s all the more grey loans. 1000$ loan now. End up paying back 2000$ (but that’s in the fine print). Or payback 1000$ unless you miss a payment and we’ll hit you hard with 30% interest or a lot of fees.
My advice is don't take those type of deals. There are plenty of good ones out there, at least in the US and if you have halfway decent credit.

Speaking of credit, how do banks do loan for cars and homes in Denmark of people do not build their credit? Serious question.

Because, it would be really hard to get decent interest rate for a loan in the US for something like a car or home if one doesn't already have a credit history.
 
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