The Apple Card is their credit card. The Apple Account contains funds you've added to your formerly named iTunes account, which can (for a while already) be used to purchase anything from Apple (hardware, software, media).
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Wallet App Now Supports Apple Account Cards on iOS 15.5
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This is nice. I just did it myself.
The Apple Card is the credit card that Apple offers, with Goldman Sachs as the issuing bank. It's basically just another credit card with it's own cash back benefits and other specific Apple oriented features such as zero percent financing for any Apple purchases charged to it.
The Apple Account that is discussed here is what you can add cash to, basically it like a gift card balance but you carry it with your Apple Account and can use it to pay for subscription and other purchases but only from Apple.
And for further confusion there is the Apple Cash card which accumulates the cash rewards that you receive from using the Apple Card, which can be used for payments using your Apple Wallet or can be deposited directly into a linked bank account.
Apple Card is a credit card, "Apple account" is your current balance on Apple store/iTunes etc
this was not showing in my phone until I changed the language to English (from German). My iTunes account is based in the US.
It will be interesting to see if I am able to pay at the Apple Store in foreign currency
It will be interesting to see if I am able to pay at the Apple Store in foreign currency
My iPhone and account regions are both United States, I don’t have separate iCloud and App Store accounts, I’m on iOS 15.5, I have an Apple Account balance, yet the option still doesn’t show up to add to my Wallet.
Just a PSA: I could not add it on my phone running iOS 15.6 Beta 1. It would never show up. But I was able to add it on my other phone on 15.5. Once it was activated there, it showed up in previous cards on the 15.6 device and I could add it from there.
Isn’t it possible this will roll out to other countries later?
Can’t see doing this for the whole world at the same instant.
and why not?
it's hardly going to cause a massive influx of internet traffic.
they don't have any issue releasing an iOS update worldwide at the same time.
with apple it's always US first and we'll think about everyone else later on if we feel like it.
I can sadly confirm this does NOT allow you to put an App Store purchase or a subscription on a card if you have an existing Apple Account balance.
Played around with 15 dollars to check it out and it just automatically takes from the Account Balance and only switches to your default payment method if your Balance runs out. Same as always.
The Apple Account card is just a way to have access to your apple id balance right in wallet. And, for the first time, a way to use that balance at a physical Apple Store via nfc. And by the way, you do have one, all US Apple users do, but it’s up to you whether you want to add it to your wallet or not.
Apple Card is a Mastercard credit card offered by Apple in partnership with Goldman Sachs.
And now it can also be used to purchase anything at physical apple stores too via nfc (apple pay).
“if we feel like it” is quite right. That explains, for example, why they waited two long years before applying for Apple Watch ECG clearance in Mexico. Made for a total wait time or nearly 4 years instead of 1-2 like in other countries.
I believe the only thing new is that by adding the Apple Account card to wallet you can use that balance via nfc at a physical Apple Store. Previously it could be used only at iTunes, the App Store and maybe the online Apple Store app/website.
yeah. that’s why I said to create a US Apple ID so the two regions match. My point was there is no need to break the non-US iphone and buy a US iphone: it’s all just software related.
Apple Cash card also accumulates any money other people sent you via imessage. And besides being used for purchases via Apple Pay or sent to a linked bank account, that money can also be used to instantly pay up one’s Apple Card balance.
Tap on the + sign and you should see the option to add it. Also, make sure you’re on iOS 15.5. If not, update your software and try again.
I'm sure this will eventually come to other countries, as unlike Apple Cash and the Apple Card, this is something that's entirely under Apple's control. It doesn't need to make deals with banks and credit card companies to make it happen.
However, keep in mind that Apple has to get its actual retail stores ready to accept the Apple Account Card via NFC. Traditional credit card payment terminals aren't going to recognize it, as it doesn't go through the VISA/MC/AMEX networks. If you can't actually walk into an Apple Store and use your Apple Account Card, there's no point in being able to add it anyway, as it's going to be nothing more than a pretty looking but entirely useless payment card sitting in your Wallet app.
It can't be a coincidence that this went live only a day after we heard that Apple is rolling out Tap to Pay on iPhone to its U.S. retail stores. I'm betting the app that Apple has developed to enable that for its retail stores was designed with this Apple Account Card in mind. It doesn't make much sense for Apple to waste time upgrading its older payment terminals (and the network on the back-end) to handle the new Apple Account Card when Tap to Pay is going to be the way forward anyway.
My guess is that when Tap to Pay on iPhone expands outside the U.S., the Apple Account Card will follow. I wouldn't be surprised if it were rolling out on a regional basis even in the U.S., in sync with local Apple Stores getting the new Tap to Pay feature. Apple surely doesn't want somebody adding the card to their wallet only to walk into their local Apple Store and be told they can't use it yet.
I really hope you’re right and it does roll out internationally, but the fact that when Apple limits a Wallet-related feature to the US, they typically never roll it out just makes my blood boil. Apple Card and Apple Cash have been out for YEARS now (3 and 5 or 6 respectively) and they’re still exclusive to the United States. Apple used to allow you to use iTunes pass in other countries but in recent times, they silently removed it and now replaced it with Apple Account, which is what I was excited for and the only reason I updated to 15.5, but it’s US only. iOS 15.5 is one of the worst point releases of iOS 15 ever. If I had known it was a US only feature, I wouldn’t have updated. If Google Wallet is able to roll all of its features out internationally and Apple is still like (nope, you have to be in the Rude Gunloving States of America), I might consider switching to Android, which I really don’t want to do
I’m not so sure Apple really cares about that. They caused exactly that when they released Apple Pay back in 2014. At the time, only 3% of US retailers were able to accept it (this number was given in 2019 by Tim Cook when he boasted that by then apple pay acceptance in the US had gone up from 3% in 2014 to 70%). That meant many people added their bank cards to wallet only to walk into their local stores and be told they couldn’t use it yet.
Google is just as bad as Apple or worse when it comes to rolling out internationally. Look at Google Pay: only available in ~40 countries, while Apple Pay is available in more than 65. And their phone, the pixel, is available in just a very few countries outside the US, despite that it’s already in its 4th or 5th gen.
Yeah, I'm in Canada too, so I share your frustration. In fact, I was able to add Apple Cash to my iPhone since I do have enough of a U.S. identity (U.S. bank account, plus a Nexus card that worked as an ID). However, until the recent switch from Discover to VISA, that's largely been useless in Canada as well. To add to the frustration, my daughter has a Family Setup Apple Watch, but of course I can't add her to Apple Cash Family because our iCloud account is Canadian-based, so the option doesn't appear.
However, Apple Cash and the Apple Card are very different things from this Apple Account Card. I'm quite sure Apple would love to roll out both of these internationally, but it's largely out of Apple's hands. There are banks and financial regulators involved, and these groups are glacially slow when it comes to adopting technology. To launch Apple Cash in Canada, Apple would need to find a Canadian banking partner, and that's hard to do since there's virtually no upside for the bank to get involved. Green Dot, which is Apple's banking partner in the U.S., is more of a fintech company than a bank — it actually bought a small bank a few years ago just to be properly certified to do banking-related stuff. It's an ideal partner for Apple, but its CEO has quite bluntly stated that it makes almost no money off the deal.
We can also thank the Canadian banks for how long it took Apple Pay to come to Canada in 2016 — AMEX beat everyone out by releasing it in late 2015. VISA and Mastercard were both ready to go then too, but the banks refused to allow it to be turned on until the Interac network was also ready for it, as they didn't want people abandoning their debit cards in favour of Apple Pay. That took a year of testing and certification. AMEX wasn't beholden to the banks, although it's notable that the Scotiabank AMEX was excluded from Apple Pay until its customers could use their Scotiabank debit card.
Thankfully, the Apple Account Card has nothing at all to do with the banks. The money you put into your Apple ID is entirely held by Apple, so they can decide how you're allowed to spend it without having to go to the banks for permission. If you're in a country where physical Apple Gift Cards are available, there's no reason the Apple Account Card can't be used on your iPhone. It's just an NFC version of the exact same thing we already have, so the only limitation is that Apple's retail stores have to be ready to accept it.
Apple has generally been quite eager to rollout its services internationally whenever and however it can. Consider that Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade are available just about everywhere. Those are also examples of situations where Apple owns all the pieces, and it's a breath of fresh air from the days of buying movies and TV shows on the iTunes Store, where customers were at the whim of inscrutable copyright and content licensing deals. It took way longer than it should have for many TV shows to arrive on the Canadian iTunes Store because of the exclusive deals that the U.S. studios had signed with Canadian broadcast networks.
The iTunes Pass was phased out globally, likely as a result of Apple releasing its unified "Everything Apple" Gift card in 2020. Granted, it wasn't necessary to get rid of it, but I'm guessing it wasn't that widely used, and Apple likely already had this new Apple Account Card in mind.
However, it's also not clear if the Apple Account Card will work like the iTunes Pass did. Right now it sounds like it's the opposite. The iTunes Pass was to add money to your account, whereas the Apple Account Card is used to spend money from your account. We don't know if it will also work for adding money.
Google is going to face the same issues with the financial world as Apple, but I'm not even holding my breath there, as Google has traditionally been even more U.S.-centric in its attitudes. For instance, Google Play Music took years to make its way outside of the U.S., long after Apple already had iTunes Match up and running in over 100 countries. The Pixel 6 is also still only available in about eight countries.
Besides, Google Wallet isn't going to offer anything that Apple Wallet doesn't already do. There's no Google equivalent of Apple Cash or the Apple Card, and Google Pay already supports basically the same list of credit and debit cards that Apple Wallet does.
The only thing Google might beat Apple to is support for Digital IDs in Canada, but I'm skeptical on that. Apple has held off on this until Digital IDs are actually useful somewhere (even if that's only at TSA checkpoints at a whopping two airports). The old Google might have pushed out Digital IDs sooner just for the sake of doing so, but there's no point if those IDs can't be used, and the modern Google is more pragmatic. There's already a company, eID-Me, that's created an authenticated digital ID solution for Canadians, but it's basically useless right now as nobody actually accepts it.
However, these Digital IDs are all based on the open Mobile Drivers License standard, so if a provincial or federal agency starts supporting Digital IDs, Apple and Google will both be lining up to add these to their respective Wallet apps.