Apple Card's 12 million users are taking advantage of everything it has to offer
It's been nearly five years since the introduction of the Apple Card, and cardholders are taking advantage of everything it offers.
Apple Card users earned more than $1 billion in Daily Cash in 2023
In partnership with Goldman Sachs, Apple launched the Apple Card in 2019. Since then, it's been a notable, if not somewhat controversial, hit.
In 2023 alone, users earned over $1 billion in Daily Cash from using Apple Card. Cardholders also took advantage of the new savings account feature that was launched in April 2023. According to Apple, users reached over $10 billion in deposits "in just a few short months."
Additionally, most Apple Card cardholders auto-deposit their Daily Cash into savings, with two-thirds adding additional funds from linked bank accounts. Currently, the Apple Card offers an APY of 4.5%
"We designed Apple Card with users' financial health in mind, and it's rewarding to see our more than 12 million customers using its features to make healthier financial decisions," Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet said in a press release.
"We're proud of what we've been able to deliver to Apple Card customers in just five years. As we look at the year ahead and beyond, we're excited to continue to innovate and invest in Apple Card's award-winning experience, and provide users with more tools and features that help them lead healthier financial lives."
Of its 12 million users, Apple says that nearly 30 percent make two or more payments per month, which helps to avoid racking up interest when making large payments.
Apple also shared that more than a million Apple Card users have shared their Apple Card with their Family Sharing Group. It also says that "600,000 users are building credit equally with their spouses, partners, or another trusted adult on Apple Card."
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Comments
2) I'm also confused by the 2 or more payments per month. I pay once a month on or just before my due date — which unfortunately for all GS Apple Card employees is the end of the month for every user. I don't see a need to pay more often because I don't accrue interest before the due date, which is already from the previous month's statement (not the month I'm in). Apple has made their UI the best in class in how much you owe and when you'll start paying interest on the charges. If I didn't have a lot of credit, I can see paying more frequently than one a month to make that credit available again while also earning cash back from the card usage -and/or- if my revolving credit card usage was too high* when GS (and others) report** to the credit bureaus, I can see myself paying off my card more than once a month. Other than that I'm not seeing why and it seems high to me that 30% would pay their card off multiple times a month for either of those reasons.
* This is a percentage of how much available credit has utilized on your cards. Anything under 10% is the most favorable.
** It has come to my attention that most people don't realize that card issuers report to the credit bureaus on cycles that may not be favorable to a borrower trying to build their credit score. You can usually call and ask them around when they report so you can pay down your balance before that date.
I can't be bothered to remember when any given lender reports to Credit Bureau A, B, or C. Like most Americans I have more than one line of consumer credit. For many this also includes longer-term debt like mortgages, auto loans, student loans, etc., not just revolving credit card debt.
If I make a big purchase on a credit card but have the cash on hand to pay it off, it's to my benefit to do so because I don't want to micromanage credit card payments right before their reporting date.
Today, like most days, my credit utilization is less than 1% across maybe 7-8 credit cards because I will pay off my cards (plural) multiple times a month; it has been like that for 10+ years. My credit score fluctuates between 820 and 830. I'm what the consumer credit industry labels a deadbeat.
In the end Apple Card is just another credit card to me, at least from a credit reporting perspective. Goldman Sachs Bank NA is just another creditor, just like JPMorganChase, American Express, BankOfAmerica, whatever.
Paying off my credit cards multiple times a month is actually a lot easier than it might seem. I use one credit card for most of my purchases, the others are only used under certain circumstances (e.g., there's one card that waives foreign transaction fees which I use when I travel abroad).
Since you don't seem to know, it takes about 10 seconds to pay off a credit card with an iOS app. This is the sort of thing I do when I standing in line at the grocery store or waiting for the gas station pump to finish filling up my car's gas tank. It's certainly better than doom scrolling through dumbass social media.
I'm a longtime user of Mint.com (from before it was acquired by Intuit). This service tells me at a glance how much I owe on each card so I don't actually have to fire up each card's app just to see there's a balance. But basically I have a good idea at any given time how much I owe on each. And since all of my cards have different closing dates (which I don't bother to track), it's actually easier just to pay when I see a balance.
And hey, I'm the guy with the 820+ credit score while putting very little effort and even less time into the matter.
The Apple Card is simply another one of those cards. Initially it wasn't supported by Mint.com and other consumer finance tracking services so I had little desire to fire up a separate app just to check what I owed.
Goldman Sucks blows and I'm not surprised they are abandoning their poorly executed foray into consumer lending which basically hastened their CEO's departure. I haven't transacted anything on my Apple Card for several years.
It'll be interesting to see who steps in as the new issuing bank.
When the big recession hit in 2006–2008, it took my business and my credit rating along with it. I spent the next 15 years having no credit cards and living strictly off cash. This meant, I not only had a lousy credit score, but I could not rebuild my score, either. Because my credit rating was so bad, I couldn't even get a credit card to rebuild my score. Nor could I get a loan to buy a new car without someone co-signing for me. When my car died, I had to turn to family to co-sign the loan for me. That loan started my score moving from the 400s up to the low 600s which got me high enough to be able to get a credit card. That card allowed me to hoist up my score to the point where I could get an Apple Card.
It isn't just whether or not what you pay at the end of each month, it is also how much debt you carry that affects your score. Except for absolute necessities (food, gasoline, medicine, etc.), I don't buy anything unless I have the cash to buy it. So I use my Apple Card, get the tiny discount on top of whatever discount the retailer is offering, then shunt the cash back into the Apple Savings account (at the time of this writing, at 4.5%APY).
When I do buy something, I immediately transfer cash to pay into the credit card to cover what I just spent. This keeps my credit usage low and my score growing. I need that score high to keep loan, insurance, and rent rates low. If I want to buy something expensive, then I start making monthly payments into savings until I've built up enough money to buy it rather than buy it and have to make monthly payments that I might not be able to make at one point or another.
Thus, I may make several payments per month! The credit card acts as a buffer against emergencies, which will give me at least two months to pay off before I get hit with interest and credit score dings. For someone with a high income—or thanks to Mummy and Daddy, a lot of money (e.g. "Rich")—all of the above may seem trivial. But for someone who is poor and working multiple part time jobs, the smallest emergency (such as a flat tire, failed refrigerator, or illness) can completely destroy the most carefully managed budget for months.
Keeping that credit score high is vital for people who don't have much money.
I've helped people get into good and excellent credit ratings in under a year after filing bankruptcy, after a messy financial divorce, and all sorts of other issues that affect one's credit rating. It doesn't take a lot of time, just a little dedication and making a few smart moves. For example, after your credit tanks and you have no credit cards, you get yourself a secured credit card with whatever minimum they allow or whatever you can afford to secure it with. Let's say $500 to start, and because you have such a small amount of revolving credit it would behoove you pay it off frequently so you have more access to it and so that when the card issuer reports to the credit bureaus they aren't seeing you above 10% utilization. You then increase your card limit each month, for instance, as you can reasonably afford. Soon enough you'll be able to auto loans, home loans, and unsecured credit cards.