Here is some information about the Apple credit card and what the future might bring. In recent years, Apple has moved towards offering credit to its customers instead of simply selling them electronics and other products. Some people have opined that Apple will move on to offer a high yield savings account next.
Apple Credit Card Review
The Apple credit card is now being rolled out to consumers. It offers a number of benefits including:
- 3 Percent Daily Cash Back for Apple Purchases: This cashback program is rather good for those who buy a lot of Apple products. The idea is that Apple will slowly roll out more merchants that it will add to the Daily Cash program with the three percent rate. This will likely include apps that you can make purchases on with the Apple credit card to get the 3 percent benefit. It’s definitely still early days for the card.
- Other Cashback Offers: The card also offers a 2 percent return on Uber Eats purchases. Plus, you get the 2 percent rate if you use the Apple Pay mobile wallet app for just about anything.
- Fast Rewards: Another nice perk is that the rewards are added to your card the same day. You don’t actually have to wait until the end of your billing cycle in order to make use of the funds. This can really help with using your rewards when you want to.
The issue is that when you make purchases with the actual physical Apple credit card that aren’t Apple-related, you often get a lower rate, at just 1%, which puts the Apple credit card behind other cards that have better cashback options for a wider variety of situations. However, Apple is just getting started, so it’s certainly interesting to see where they might go from here, both in terms of the Apple credit card and other possibilities.
Other upsides of the card include that it doesn’t require any fees, there’s a chance of free transfers to friends and family, and there are some new security measures. Apple also has a track record for being fairly reliable when it comes to keeping information private, considering the police have had to ask for help to get into Apple Phones before since the authorities couldn’t do it themselves.
Downsides to the card include the low 1% bonus made outside of Apple, the fact that you have to use Apple Pay and Apple devices only, and their lack of a welcome bonus.
The credit card is thanks to a collaboration with Goldman Sachs.
Will Apple Offer Savings Accounts Next?
There’s a lot of speculation about whether Apple is going to continue in this direction, even going so far as to offer something like a savings account. This has sparked some debate about the role companies like Apple play in the future of the banking industry.
A recent column in Forbes suggests that Apple, rather than disrupting banking, is actually helping banks and not necessarily competing with them. After all, Apple Pay prompts you to add a bank account, essentially encouraging you to use your bank even more than you might already.
This perspective challenges the idea that Silicon Valley in general could be a major disruptive force for banks. There are those who think that these companies will disrupt banks the way Amazon has disrupted retail stores or the way Uber has disrupted the taxi industry. Either way, Apple has yet to make a full move into banking.
Apple enthusiasts certainly have reason to be interested in Apple’s future when it comes to savings and credit. It’s convenient to be able to connect all of your different devices together with everything you do. If you already use a lot of functions on your iPhone, then Apple Pay can make life even easier.
It’s also nice to be rewarded for loyalty, and Apple fans are some of the more loyal consumers out there. Certainly, there’s every possibility that Apple will recognize the possibilities and go forward towards bank accounts, allowing consumers who consume more and more with only Apple to receive higher and higher benefits for the exclusivity. This kind of isolationism in consuming is something that Apple is famous for.
Only time will tell if Apple will do this, but it’s definitely easy to see how it might make sense from a business perspective. One thing is clear: if Apple did add more banking, plenty of fans would rejoice.
