Apple Card: no multi-user support, no penalty rates, foreign transactions, more
While Apple News+ and Apple TV+ were the focus of Monday's "It's show time" event, Apple's first foray into the credit industry -- Apple Card -- arguably stole the show. Apple painted the product in broad strokes on stage and in its promotional material, but with a dearth of details, questions about the upcoming service remain.
TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino addressed a few lingering questions and offered additional information on Apple Card's particulars in a report on Thursday.
Perhaps most interesting are specifics regarding general usability. For example, Apple Card does not support multiple users or shared cards, meaning cards are, at least at launch, designed to be used by only one person. Further, while foreign purchases do not incur a transaction fee, Mastercard determines the exchange rate.
Apple said Apple Card offers "lower rates" -- specifically variable APRs ranging from 13.24 to 24.24 percent -- based on credit history, but failed to specify how customers would fall into the rate spectrum. According to Panzarino, Apple will place users at the lower end of their respective rate tier, meaning users might save a few points.
As promised by Apple, Apple Card comes with no fees or penalties. This includes penalty rates for failure to pay off a balance on time. It should be noted that while Apple and Goldman Sachs do not charge fees or bump rates due to late payments, such action will negatively impact a user's credit score.
Security is obviously a main selling point, and to that end Apple is presenting a slew of features and capabilities unique to its platform. The card itself lacks any identifying markings, including a card number or traditional CVV. As can be expected, the physical card does have a number encoded into its magnetic stripe, but users will not have access to that information. Instead, the corresponding virtual card in the Wallet app only displays the last four digits of a user's personal account number.
When making purchases that require recitation of a card number, the app generates a virtual number and CVV. This process can be repeated manually if a user so chooses.
In addition, Goldman Sachs is disallowed from using customer data for external or internal advertising purposes, though the bank does need a slice of that information for internal reporting.
Finally, the physical card is activated through what appears to be an NFC tag that interacts with iPhone. That does not mean, however, that a physical Apple Card is compatible with touchless payments systems; the titanium card features a typical chip and mag stripe. Users who misplace their card can request a replacement for free.
Apple Card is slated to debut in the U.S. sometime this summer, with an international launch to follow.
TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino addressed a few lingering questions and offered additional information on Apple Card's particulars in a report on Thursday.
Perhaps most interesting are specifics regarding general usability. For example, Apple Card does not support multiple users or shared cards, meaning cards are, at least at launch, designed to be used by only one person. Further, while foreign purchases do not incur a transaction fee, Mastercard determines the exchange rate.
Apple said Apple Card offers "lower rates" -- specifically variable APRs ranging from 13.24 to 24.24 percent -- based on credit history, but failed to specify how customers would fall into the rate spectrum. According to Panzarino, Apple will place users at the lower end of their respective rate tier, meaning users might save a few points.
As promised by Apple, Apple Card comes with no fees or penalties. This includes penalty rates for failure to pay off a balance on time. It should be noted that while Apple and Goldman Sachs do not charge fees or bump rates due to late payments, such action will negatively impact a user's credit score.
Security is obviously a main selling point, and to that end Apple is presenting a slew of features and capabilities unique to its platform. The card itself lacks any identifying markings, including a card number or traditional CVV. As can be expected, the physical card does have a number encoded into its magnetic stripe, but users will not have access to that information. Instead, the corresponding virtual card in the Wallet app only displays the last four digits of a user's personal account number.
When making purchases that require recitation of a card number, the app generates a virtual number and CVV. This process can be repeated manually if a user so chooses.
In addition, Goldman Sachs is disallowed from using customer data for external or internal advertising purposes, though the bank does need a slice of that information for internal reporting.
Finally, the physical card is activated through what appears to be an NFC tag that interacts with iPhone. That does not mean, however, that a physical Apple Card is compatible with touchless payments systems; the titanium card features a typical chip and mag stripe. Users who misplace their card can request a replacement for free.
Apple Card is slated to debut in the U.S. sometime this summer, with an international launch to follow.
Comments
But really, if the Credit Card number is always changing, how do you use it to pay some of your bills like Garbage, or Water, etc. How do you have automatic payments without going back to the site every month and enter a new token number?
I suppose that number might be disposable in the sense they would issue you a new card without closing your account and opening a new one but I would prefer a card with no stripe. Swiping is becoming rare and I could always use a different card.
That would mean you couldn't use it on any network, and there wouldn't be any infrastructure to handle payments and suchlike. The last time someone invented something completely new like that was the Discover Card, and it was pretty useless in the first half-dozen years after it was introduced, even though it was backed by Sears and Dean Witter Reynolds.
It doesn't constantly change. The card number on the stripe is never divulged, except the last 4 digits. In general, the card number given to you in the app is a virtual card number (as offered by other cards) that you can change any time, but it doesn't automatically roll. I dunno if you can generate multiple virtual card numbers (which is handy for paying bills and suchlike) or if the previous numbers are invalidated when you create a new one.
But you're not alone. There are a lot of people who seem excited about this card as if it's somehow different. I don't get it, but I'm sorta old so what do I know.
No annual fee
$50 in annual credit for digital services (Apple Music, Netflix, Spotify, etc)
1% back on everything
2% on all online purchases
3% back on travel/hotels
4% back on restaurants
No reward caps
I never carry a balance so I rack up with this card.
I love Apple products, but this is just another way to make it even easier to give them your money ߘ顠 Don’t get let them reel you in.
https://youtu.be/e874AUNCJo0
the physical card does have a number encoded into its magnetic stripe, but users will not have access to that information. Instead, the corresponding virtual card in the Wallet app only displays the last four digits of a user's personal account number.
When making purchases that require recitation of a card number, the app generates a virtual number and CVV. This process can be repeated manually if a user so chooses.
My understanding of how this works on other cards that have offered random numbers, is that they are active until revoked. I believe the idea is that every merchant has a different card number, so in the event of a breach of their data and your card number is stolen, it’s tied to that transaction and not authorized for use anywhere else. The way it is now, is your master number is held by dozens of merchants, stealing it from any one of them gives an active card access to anyone who posses it.
Please explain to use how Apple is "taking your money" with this credit card? In detail, I'd LOVE to know.
So much stupidity here. And yeah, we all know Dave Ramsey's religiously against credit cards, because most of his fans are too damn idiotic to know how to use one responsibly. The vast majority of people in 1st world countries use credit cards, that's a fact. If Apple provides a better CC, what's the issue?
Oh, and will patiently wait for your elaboration on how Apple makes money with this credit card.