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Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Earendil said:
Need? No, but they stand to make
Money. Are all the big banks non-profit or government owned?

Also, do Canadian banks need to partner with anyone to make it work? Visa works in Canada last I checked, and I’ve used bank issued CCs in Canada as recently as last year. Maybe debit cards don’t work?



Is Canada as behind in adopting NFC as the US? Is adopting NFC seen as a disruptive thing? I’m not sure how else Apple can be disruptive?

In Europe I believe *not* using NFC is the most disruptive, just a different kind of disruption :p
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I don't have all the answers, but I will say that Canada is a country of oligopolies, and one thing I've learned through also watching other countries with similar local arrangements is that, when a small handful of players already collectively dominate a market and have long established and somewhat incestuous relationships with government regulators, there's little incentive to do anything that might upset the current equilibrium.

When I say that the banks don't need Apple, to which you responded that they stand to make money, well they're already making all the money between them, with only a small amount of competitive activity at the margins. Only one of them would be able to partner with Apple, but doing so would likely require permission from regulators, as well as sparking an unwelcome battle among players already satisfied with their control over the current state of things. Apple also isn't a charity, and their goal of making any money from an arrangement with a Canadian bank, along with doing anything to make the Apple Card more appealing than a bank's current offerings, is already something I can see the banks not wanting.

Regarding NFC, most Canadian debit and credit cards are already equipped with NFC.
 
Expos of 1969 said:
Interesting as some did not consider the card due to Apple getting in bed with such an unethical and despicable company. Financial crisis of 2008 ring any bells?
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You’re talking about a company where almost nobody back then is still around today. I don’t not buy Mercedes because of their WW2 practices, I don’t buy them because they make crap cars.
 
UltimaKilo said:
You’re talking about a company where almost nobody back then is still around today. I don’t not buy Mercedes because of their WW2 practices, I don’t buy them because they make crap cars.
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The players may change but the culture is often imbedded and does not change. We are talking about Goldman Sachs here, not Mercedes.
 
Expos of 1969 said:
The players may change but the culture is often imbedded and does not change. We are talking about Goldman Sachs here, not Mercedes.
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Correct, Mercedes that used slave labor in the 1940s. C'mon man, stop the virtue signaling. Goldman is an amazing company. There's a reason it's the most coveted place to work in finance and why everyone wants to do business with them.
 
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I'll bet they are going to up their offers.

There will be a LOT of customers running larger and larger balances.

Credit companies are licking their chops to gouge people on interest charges.
 
Hajj.david said:
This isnt the 1960s, most places use Square, Stripe or some other super big payment processor almost nobody has the old dial in terminals. Modern software/processors all take AMEX.
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True. Even places that don't have AmEx stickers on their door (where they have the Visa/MC ones) will process the transaction when I use an AmEx card at their terminal.

Anyway, the only thing I use my Apple card for is Apple stuff. There are better cards for everything else.
 
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c84216 said:
The Apple Card is my favorite card I have. Sure the cash back percentages aren't always the best, but the data/record keeping and ease of accessing the cash back are second to none. And no doofy app to deal with. The UI is top notch. And I like the physical card having no number printed on it AND the rotating CVV. Plus I know I'll get a minimum 2% if tap to pay is accepted. Just A+ experience all around. I hope whatever happens doesn't botch it.
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The problem is that normal Visa benefits like extended warranty, price protection, etc. will not be available like they are not with the current MC Apple card.
 
Boeingfan said:
Well the feeling in the room is that they’re expensive and have a very poor network internationally.
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The expensive part is just math - you have to calculate if the benefits are worth the cost of the card. If they're not, obviously don't do it.

I spend a third of the month in other countries and I personally haven't had any issues, but that may be a function of the countries/cities I travel to. That said does anyone use an Amex as their only card?
 
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dmr727 said:
The expensive part is just math - you have to calculate if the benefits are worth the cost of the card. If they're not, obviously don't do it.

I spend a third of the month in other countries and I personally haven't had any issues, but that may be a function of the countries/cities I travel to. That said does anyone use an Amex as their only card?
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The cost vs benefits is a great and obvious point. I would cynically ask though how an Amex is more cost effective than another card.

I don’t have any credit cards, just the credit function of my banks debit card, which suits my situation, but everyone has varying reasons for how they manage their finances.
 
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
 
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jakebrosy said:
We have platinum, gold & blue Amex and use them for different things. We pay about $1200 for the cards each year and you have to pay attention to which card you use for what to maximise returns.

We get:
  • $400 in travel credits
  • $320 in Uber credits
  • $324 for digital stuff (Netflix, Hulu, NYTimes…)
  • ~$360/yr on AppleCare+ b/c we pay the cell bill with Platinum
  • $200 for Clear+
  • $100 if we reserve a restaurant with Resy (as most are today)
  • free airport lounges (we used to pay about $1500/yr for Admirals Club)
  • other stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting
We also can usually get reservations to places we wouldn’t normally get into (or better seats) with the Platinum Concierge service.

Plus we earn a bajillion points each year to ‘buy’ stuff. My recent Apple Studio & monitor were ‘bought’ with Amex points…after we paid for 2 weeks at the St. Regis Bali & 1st class air fare from NYC. We definitely get our $$ worth.
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Very interesting. So do you think you'd be worse off paying cash?
 
dmr727 said:
Curious - I've been a Chase guy for awhile and just recently added an Amex Gold for food and travel. Why has Amex been bothering you?
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I’ve heard reports of AmEx stripping away features from their high end cards and customer service going downhill fast.
 
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