Apple Rewards card from Barclaycard updated with 3X points on Apple Store purchases, Chip & PIN secu
A new "Apple Rewards" Visa card launched this month by Barclaycard with a number of changes, most notably a revised rewards system that pays out Apple Store gift cards, as well as the addition of Chip & PIN security.
The new Apple Rewards card offers three points per dollar spent at the Apple Store, two for restaurants, and one point per dollar on all other purchases. Once a user has reached 2,500 points, they receive a $25 Apple Store Gift Card.
The card also offers customers the ability to finance purchases made through Apple within the first 30 days of opening account. Purchases under $498 can be financed for 6 months, under $998 for 12 months, and $999 and over for 18 months.
The card should also be compatible with Apple Pay, as both Visa and Barclaycard are participating partners.
For customers who shop at the Apple Store frequently, the new card is an improvement from the previous Barclaycard with iTunes Rewards. That card offered two iTunes points for every dollar spent at any Apple Store or the iTunes Store, and one iTunes point for every dollar spent elsewhere.
The old Apple-branded card also had a payout level of 2,500 points, which would award customers a $25 iTunes Gift Card rather than an Apple Store card. But reaching that threshold would be more difficult for many customers without the triple points option.
However, the fine print of the new Apple Rewards card notes that unlike with its predecessor, iTunes purchases are not qualifying Apple purchases. For customers who spend a considerable amount of money on the App Store or iTunes Store, that could diminish the value of the new card considerably.
Apple's new Barclaycard includes an embedded EMV chip that is compliant with Chip & PIN security. Interestingly, it's not a "Chip & Signature" card, which is the more common option in the U.S.
The new Apple Rewards card offers three points per dollar spent at the Apple Store, two for restaurants, and one point per dollar on all other purchases. Once a user has reached 2,500 points, they receive a $25 Apple Store Gift Card.
The card also offers customers the ability to finance purchases made through Apple within the first 30 days of opening account. Purchases under $498 can be financed for 6 months, under $998 for 12 months, and $999 and over for 18 months.
The previous Apple card paid out rewards as iTunes gift cards, but the new card gives Apple Store cards.
The card should also be compatible with Apple Pay, as both Visa and Barclaycard are participating partners.
For customers who shop at the Apple Store frequently, the new card is an improvement from the previous Barclaycard with iTunes Rewards. That card offered two iTunes points for every dollar spent at any Apple Store or the iTunes Store, and one iTunes point for every dollar spent elsewhere.
The old Apple-branded card also had a payout level of 2,500 points, which would award customers a $25 iTunes Gift Card rather than an Apple Store card. But reaching that threshold would be more difficult for many customers without the triple points option.
However, the fine print of the new Apple Rewards card notes that unlike with its predecessor, iTunes purchases are not qualifying Apple purchases. For customers who spend a considerable amount of money on the App Store or iTunes Store, that could diminish the value of the new card considerably.
Apple's new Barclaycard includes an embedded EMV chip that is compliant with Chip & PIN security. Interestingly, it's not a "Chip & Signature" card, which is the more common option in the U.S.
Comments
3% for Apple purchases is good. I wouldn't use this card for anything else though.
Credit cards that offer you miles on airline or points for products are generally not a good idea. They are restrictive in what you can get back and end up returning very little money.
My credit card offers me the same type of deal but with cash back at the end of the year. The return is significantly better than my previous card that restricted me to miles with a particular airline that was a very hard to redeem for times I needed. I estimate I gain about 50% more in real terms using a cash back card than a points/miles based system.
@kent909 - if you need to pay interest on your purchases, perhaps you're buying things you can't afford. Just because Apple has billions in the bank doesn't mean they're obligated to bankroll your reckless spending (and I'm sure it is Barclays that sets the interest rate, not Apple). The reason credit card companies charge such high rates is because people buy what they can't afford and never pay their bill, sticking the rest of us with it.
All fine and good. With an APR from 13.99 % to as high as 26.99% why would anyone think this is a good deal. If you think you need to charge someone 26% maybe you should not be lending them money. This is sad since Apple has so many billions in the bank, that they would participate in predatory lending. I will stick with my 6.5% card thank you.
Those interest rates will be set by 'Barclaycard' , nothing to do with Apple I am sure.
All fine and good. With an APR from 13.99 % to as high as 26.99% why would anyone think this is a good deal. If you think you need to charge someone 26% maybe you should not be lending them money. This is sad since Apple has so many billions in the bank, that they would participate in predatory lending. I will stick with my 6.5% card thank you.
Really? Assuming I am interpreting it correctly, the card offers you 0% interest for up to 18 months on purchases over $1000. Say, you buy a $2500 Mac, and are disciplined enough to make your payment on the last day of the 18th month: compared to doing the same thing with your 6.5% card, wouldn't you save 2500×.065×1.5 ? $250?
You could, for example, park your $2500 in Apple stock during that period....
got a Barclay Card earlier this year. So far, I've netted about $800 from the card with very minimal use (my least used card) and they've made no direct money off of me. I've very excited about 3% back on my Apple purchases as a $2000 Macbook Pro will be an extra $60 in my pocket. This the same reward value the Chase Amazon card gives you for making purchases on amazon.com.
edit: I may be misunderstanding this card. I thought it was an Apple rewards for using ?Pay with a Barclaycard, but I', thinking now it's a specific Apple credit card issued by Barclay's.
All fine and good. With an APR from 13.99 % to as high as 26.99% why would anyone think this is a good deal. If you think you need to charge someone 26% maybe you should not be lending them money. This is sad since Apple has so many billions in the bank, that they would participate in predatory lending. I will stick with my 6.5% card thank you.
Because someone that would take this deal doesnt know any better. And when you dont know, then you dont know. I dont think Apple takes a big portion of that rate but I am sure its up there because they do get a piece somewhere.
It's pretty easy to spend $2500 if you kick it off with a new computer. That's where a lot of these signups will happen. If you can get points for things like adding credit to your iTunes account in store, paying bills via card etc then it won't be hard. And if you are deep in the eco system that reward will work for you. If not then don't apply. It's not like Apple doesn't take other cards
Does anyone really get GCs or the other reward options over getting credit directly applied to the account balance?
All fine and good. With an APR from 13.99 % to as high as 26.99% why would anyone think this is a good deal. If you think you need to charge someone 26% maybe you should not be lending them money. This is sad since Apple has so many billions in the bank, that they would participate in predatory lending. I will stick with my 6.5% card thank you.
Welcome to the world of credit cards. This has nothing to do with Apple; this card is run by Barclaycard.
Smart money never pays interest on these things...
Credit Card companies raised rates post Card Act in 2008. 12.99% is actually the lower offered rate by most major card companies. Many of you surprised may have cards pre-Card Act, or Military banks, or Small Banks/Credit Unions.
This is because most companies cannot trigger default rates of 24.99%.+ as easily anymore. One day late payments cannot trigger it. Typically there has to be 30+ days, or more for it to trigger. Companies can no longer shield higher interest loans behind lower interest loans via payments only allocating to the lowest interest first.
So what we have are higher interest rates, but less surprises. Just pay the Barclay's Card off in full and get the points.
Or just get a vastly superior rewards card from American Express, Discover, Chase, Capital One etc etc.......This one isn't very competitive.
Really? Assuming I am interpreting it correctly, the card offers you 0% interest for up to 18 months on purchases over $1000. Say, you buy a $2500 Mac, and are disciplined enough to make your payment on the last day of the 18th month: compared to doing the same thing with your 6.5% card, wouldn't you save 2500×.065×1.5 ? $250?
You could, for example, park your $2500 in Apple stock during that period....
The only reason I have a Barclay card is from the 0% interest for 18 months I received when I bought an iMac in 2011. The card is good just for that purpose only. I do wish Barclay would extend that offer to current cardholders.
All fine and good. With an APR from 13.99 % to as high as 26.99% why would anyone think this is a good deal. If you think you need to charge someone 26% maybe you should not be lending them money. This is sad since Apple has so many billions in the bank, that they would participate in predatory lending. I will stick with my 6.5% card thank you.
I think you missed the part with the 0% financing. I can almost guarantee you anyone who has a Barclay card from the Apple store got one for the 0% interest rate from their initial purchase. I have one for that same exact reason. Of course I'm not going to use the card now to buy something I can't pay off in a month.
Having credit cards are good for your credit. The more credit you have at your disposal helps your credit rating, especially if you have used less than 15% of their total value.
For example, If you have a single, $500 card and carry an average balance of about a $250 you are using 50% of that card. That looks bad even though you're only in the hole by $250. Now let's say you have $50,000 in credit cards over 5 cards, and carry an average balance of about $5,000. That's not only 10x the maximum amount of the previous card, it's 20x its average balance, but this one doesn't hurt your credit rating because it's only 10% of your total available. Also, once you have that much credit available you're credit rating also goes up. It doesn't have to be on one card; it'a accumulative.
Also important is not having too many hard inquiries which last 24 months (but think 25 months for them to fall off) and age of your oldest card and age of your combined cards. For those reasons you want to plan to build credit as young as possible. It's not something you can do a whim right before you're ready to buy a house.
Finally, in order of best type of loan to worst in regards to helping your credit:
….?????? Installment - Student Loans, Automobile, Furniture, Appliances
……..???? Credit Cards - Visa, MC, Disc. Amex
…..….....?? Retail Cards - A line of credit to be used only at that store
Note: This does not necessarily mean you should get rid of a Retail Card simply because it's the worst kind to have. If you use it, and pay it off weekly then let it work for you, just note that there are better cards out there and by closing it you lose the positive history associated with it.