Tim Cook Touts 'Incredible' Response to Apple Card Savings Account on iPhone

[sw1tcher]

Not clueless. With Apple and GS involved it’s going to get more scrutiny than my local FI.

Yes, clueless.

The statement was...

Many people trust Apple more than any bank.

The deposited money doesn't stay with Apple, it goes to Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Guess what Goldman Sachs Bank USA is? A bank. 😂 And because the money is deposited at a bank, it is FDIC insured for up to $250K. That's no different than the deposits at your local financial institution or at any other bank where deposits are also FDIC insured.

 

[Robert.Walter]

I suspect Apple are not done yet in the financial arena. I think savings accounts are gated behind Apple Card temporarily. Checking has to be on the drawing board already. We'll need a full-featured Finance app from Apple before long.



Apple's cash back arrives the next day and starts earning interest immediately. Meanwhile other banks make you wait a full cycle. It may not make a huge difference in earned interest, but it's a massive motivator to use AC over other tender.

I don’t think apple is going to bother with checking. It’s cumbersome, costly and old fashioned.

That said, folks still have to write checks because US personal and small commercial finance is in the dark ages.

Apple/GS is taking the cream of the personal finance business (deposits and CC business) and leaving the old fashioned and expensive parts to the others.

Because of the ease of add/withdraw to/from the Apple/GS savings account, folks are going to only keep enough money in their bank & CU accounts to cover checks, float and avoid fees. The rest of the money will be at Apple/GS earning higher interest.

The Apple/GS system is massively disruptive for incumbent financial instructions. They will have to pay near competitive interest or face capital flight to AGS.

The ease of moving money in and out to get high interest will be fatal for small financial institutions.

There is a massive consolidation in the small-midsize banks and CU’s coming.

I’m not sure where it ends but I expect in the next 1/2 year at least 2 things to happen at small/mid incumbent institutions: 1) fees or minimum balances will go up (this will drive depositors/members to move) and 2) to see the small fry start to throw in the towel.

A cycle has been set in motion and it will accelerate.

 

[clipse2d]

I'm all for the savings account, but why do you need to open a credit card to open a savings account? Seems counter productive.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Yes, clueless.

The statement was...

The deposited money doesn't stay with Apple, it goes to Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Guess what Goldman Sachs Bank USA is? A bank. 😂 And because the money is deposited at a bank, it is FDIC insured for up to $250K. That's no different than the deposits at your local financial institution or at any other bank where deposits are also FDIC insured.

That’s all obvious to even a casual observer.

 

[Will Co]

When it makes business sense for a bank there to back it up, sure. That is up to UK regulators to make it compelling to operate there.

I don't think it's anything to do with the UK regulators and I suspect, given the performance of the card in the US, there would be plenty of UK credit handlers only too happy to back Apple. I suspect it's because Apple has not yet decided to go for another country. But I'm no financial expert - just my two cents (pennies?)

 

[GooseInTheCaboose]

If people were robots driven by mathematics, this might be true. I’m not a Dave Ramsey sheep but I fully agree with his breakdown of personal finance being only 20% knowledge (mathematics) and 80% behavior (willpower). Pay Later is a marketing tool meant to soften the consumer’s psychological blow compared to up-front payment in full. I guarantee the vast majority of people aren’t using it to save a few pennies in interest. They are using it to impulse-buy more stuff. It is largely antithetical to financial health and independence, in practice, because of that 80/20 principal.

Yeah i totally agree about that. As i said, i have never used a bnpl plan. In principle it is possible to benefit from them. However you’re right in practice theyre designed to take advantage if people’s human weaknesses

 

[nylonsteel]

soon samsung will have a copy cat of this

 

[gleepskip]

I don’t think apple is going to bother with checking. It’s cumbersome, costly and old fashioned.

That said, folks still have to write checks because US personal and small commercial finance is in the dark ages.

I mean checking only in a transactional sense, not physical checks. My paycheck is deposited to a checking account and all my drafts for mortgage and credit accounts come from that account.

I'm not aware Apple Savings can be drawn on beyond the typical six times per cycle. I didn't see a withdrawal limit specified in the T&C.

 

[gleepskip]

I chatted with Goldman Sachs savings customer service: "There is no limit for withdrawals per month."

I'm deliberating keeping a modest amount of money in a CU checking account for ease of cash access. For month-to-month use, I might direct my weekly paycheck to Apple Savings and pay ACH bills with that account.

 

[Graphton]

Apple CEO Tim Cook this week said initial response to the new Apple Card Savings feature has been "incredible" following its launch last month.

Speaking on Apple's quarterly earnings call, Cook said both the savings account and the new Apple Pay Later financing feature help customers to live a "healthier financial life," adding that he is "very excited about the first days of both of them."

Apple Card users can now open a high-yield savings account from Goldman Sachs and start earning interest on their Daily Cash cashback balance and other deposited money, with no fees or minimum balance requirement. The account currently offers a 4.15% APY, a rate Apple said was "more than 10 times the national average" as of late March. The account can be set up and completely managed in the Wallet app on the iPhone.

Forbes this week reported that around 240,000 Apple Card savings accounts were opened in the first week, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday, but the Apple Card savings account's APY remains unchanged for now. It's unclear if or when Goldman Sachs will increase the account's APY in response to the rate hike, as many other banks offering high-yield savings accounts commonly do.

Apple's credit card and the savings account are available in the U.S. only.

Article Link: Tim Cook Touts 'Incredible' Response to Apple Card Savings Account on iPhone

I trust Tim Cook with my life savings more than any other human on this planet 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 

[jypfoto]

Goldman Sachs loses money on Apple Card and I'm sure on the apple savings account... I wonder how long this will last.

They’re probably losing money due to the loose acceptance initially where it was all about getting the user count high. Most likely had a higher than expected amount of defaults, especially due to the pandemic. If they start tightening up their acceptance, they’ll be ahead due to the interchange fees and the interest from those that carry balances but aren’t at risk for default.

 

[FriendlyMackle]

In with those saying pay later is not financially healthy. I can’t think of a single circumstance under which it could possibly improve anyone’s financial health. If it’s that small an amount and you can’t pay now, you should probably skip the purchase and put that savings account to use. It is solely a tool to increase people’s willingness to pay.

The savings account is a nice chaser, though. Will be interesting if they don’t move rates up soon after the fed increase. If the fed had decreased I bet that rate would have come down instantly, haha. I have savings with Betterment… they moved from 4.35 to 4.5 right after the announcement (to take effect starting next week). There are better options out there but Apple’s ease of use is hard to beat, as usual.

I was going to mention Betterment as well, yes, the savings rate is 4.5! I love it.

 

[garylapointe]

How is racking up more debt on a credit card make for a "healthier financial life,"? They will say anything..

It's only "racking up" debt if you don't pay it off.

Charge it, instead of taking from checking or cash on hand, and earn cash back. For no extra effort.

 

[alexandr]

When’s it coming to the UK? Come on now, it’s taking forever…

You guys got GS over there?

 

[DrJR]

Why anyone would trust them with their savings….. nope, nope, nope…..you can use OPM, not mine.

 

[WWPD]

I'll stay with my Amex savings account, the APY may not be as high but I've never had a bad experience with them.

 

[nottorp]

Question is, how hard will they make it to move your money out later when they get out of the customer acquisition phase and their rates stop being competitive.

 

[MacGekko]

Until they allow a spouse to be a co-signer/owner, mine will stay at $4 or whatever I collect from Apple Pay rewards. I‘d transfer money into the savings account but no way will I allow it to be difficult for my spouse to get to it in case something happens to me.

There is no beneficiary option?

 

[SipperGW]

a "healthier financial life" — really⁇
debts are never, ever healthy.

 

[MacGekko]

Why anyone would trust them with their savings….. nope, nope, nope…..you can use OPM, not mine.

Is your money stuffed in a safe?

 

[MacBH928]

Perhaps because Apple is able to bring a crowd of customers that goldman could never have otherwise?
A company like Apple is really becoming a "country within a country" with its own "people" and eventually its own financial system if they choose to go down that road.

If goldman sach gave 4% savings for your average consumer they will get much more customers since there are more people in the united states than Apple users (not everyone is an Apple user).

heck, they can offer 4% for both, and get the best of both worlds

 

[waquzy]

You guys got GS over there?

GS??

 

[ahmede]

Cook's vocab is very limited.

 

[TVreporter]

They say you’re not living if you aren’t in debt…

Bring it to Canada Tim!

 

[SalisburySam]

Tim Cook Touts 'Incredible' Response to Apple Card Savings Account on iPhone​

If I correctly recall Cook’s keynote speeches since he became Apple’s head, pretty much everything is “incredible” to him. And he’s always “very excited” to bring things, new or otherwise, to us.