It's funny, no one seems to mention that there is (and has been for several years) an Apple Rewards card through Barclays. On that card you earn 3 points for every dollar spent at Apple (doesn't matter if it is an Apple brand product just that the purchase was at Apple, in store or online), 2 points for every dollar spent at restaurants, and 1 point for every dollar spent on all other purchases. Granted these points are only redeemable for Apple Gift Cards or iTunes Gift Card, but for me as I spend a lot for business on Apple products it has added up to be a considerable amount of savings with the Apple Gift Cards. The other nice feature is that from time-to-time they offer 0% financing for up to 18 months, depending on the size of the purchase. This too has come in handy when doing major upgrades of our computers. There is no indication on whether or not the Apple Rewards Card will remain or be replaced by this newer Apple Card.
The Barclays card perks are going away.
My understanding is that they simply aren't issuing new cards, but that if you have a card the rewards will still work.
I think it possible you'll see periodic 5% offerings, perhaps for categories in a quarter like other cards do. You can bet Apple will know exactly what they need to offer for pricing to spur sales.
I have been looking,and cannot find any info on paying the monthly balance. I would like to know if "auto Pay" can be scheduled also will "pay the balance" be an option. Paying the balance is not always and option. I have one CC that sits in a folder in my file cabinet (for years) simply because it does not let you "auto Pay" the balance. It allows for "Auto Pay", but requires you to enter a $ value. Sooo that means that at the end of each billing statement you have to go in calculate the difference between the auto pay value, and your actual balance, and pay the difference. I'm sure they do that to discourage people from paying off the balance each month allowing them to collect the interest. I should just close it, but closing a CC can sometimes ding your credit. As is I just keep the CC in a folder, and never bother with it.
Thinking about it -- I really don't even want the physical card. It'll just sit in a drawer. If I'm ever in a place that doesn't take ApplePay (which is rare) I'll use one of my other cards that pay more than 1%.
I understand why Goldman is backing Apple on pushing people into ApplePay -- it lowers their liability. When my Chase card was hacked and used fraudulently, I asked the specialist if I should use ApplePay or (what was then the new, fangled technology) their chip card. She told me ApplePay was safer. And, that makes sense because nobody gets to see or use your credit card number.
P.S. I like reading your posts but please stop using bold text, it's very annoying and harder to read. Also, I really wish you would start your own bank and charge much lower rates; I would switch to your bank in an instant.
The bold text thing was an issue when posting from the AppleInsider app on my iPad Pro. You could not get a cursor without selecting Bold or Italic and switching back made the cursor go away.
Not sure if it was related to plugins like Grammarly, Ghostery or Purify. Anyhow, it finally went away.
What kind of credit score will be needed to get this card?
My guess is 700 or higher.
They list interest rates of 13-25%. An interest rate of 25% for a credit score over 700 is pretty bad.
Knowing the reporting agency they use is good - we have a freeze on our accounts, too, so I have to unlock them if I want to apply for any cards or loans. Not a big deal since we don’t do that very often, but knowing which agency to contact is helpful.
I got the invite this afternoon. Signed up with 12.99 APR and a line of 50,000 USD... moved all Apple purchases over and made an Apple Store purchase... let’s see...
I got the invite this afternoon. Signed up with 12.99 APR and a line of 50,000 USD... moved all Apple purchases over and made an Apple Store purchase... let’s see…
If Apple wanted to disrupt the credit card space they should have offered something about half of the usurious rates charged by the banksters. They pay little to nothing to depositors and get money from the fed at the discount rate. The difference is almost pure profit.
Tell that to Lending Club. They loan money to people to pay off high interest debt at lower rates. It's not as lucrative as you think. Credit ratings exist for a reason.
Exactly. We still shop at places that don't read the chip on our current cards, but require you to swipe the magnetic strip which the Apple Card lacks. Heck, we were at a motel last month and I went to the lobby to buy a pop and the machine required me to swipe the card. Also, when I do things over the phone, such as reserve a room or a spot for our RV, I often have to give them my card number, expiration date and the 3-digit number from the back of the card. Again, with an Apple Card, I'd be screwed.
Apple Card does have a card number and a security code. It's in the Wallet app on your iPhone. Yet another item this article forgot to mention.
I got the invite this afternoon. Signed up with 12.99 APR and a line of 50,000 USD... moved all Apple purchases over and made an Apple Store purchase... let’s see…
Comments
You could not get a cursor without selecting Bold or Italic and switching back made the cursor go away.
Not sure if it was related to plugins like Grammarly, Ghostery or Purify. Anyhow, it finally went away.
Knowing the reporting agency they use is good - we have a freeze on our accounts, too, so I have to unlock them if I want to apply for any cards or loans. Not a big deal since we don’t do that very often, but knowing which agency to contact is helpful.