macgui

Fatman said:

The article is unclear/ not correct  

The article is perfectly clear and correct. You are stating what the article already said. A lot of people don't understand that Apple Pay and Apple Card are two different things.  The article said 2% for Apple Pay. That means a site that accepts Apple Pay or a store with an NFC reader that accepts Apple Pay. Any other use of the card – swiping the physical card or using the Wallet information for an online purchase that doesn't take Apple Pay gets you 1%. The article is correct.

GeorgeBMac said:

Or, for myself, since I don't want to link my bank account, I'll transfer money to AppleCash using my bank's debit card and use that to pay the bill.

Not possible, as far as I could tell. I would rather not let G-S dip into my bank account, but I believe a bank must be linked to the card in order to pay it. I put money from my debit card into Apple Cash but when I pressed Pay Now I got 'Transaction Not Completed' every time. Some website showed that linked to a bank, you then have the option of paying from Apple Cash by pushing a button. So I it looks like I'll have to live with G-S's mitts (I won't schedule a payment; zero balance as always) or link the card, pay the balance, and drop the card.

stevefromstatefarm said:
I received the physical Apple Card in the mail, but unless the wallet app notifies you that the card has shipped, you cannot activate your physical AppleCard.

I wonder why you'd activated the card before it ships? Once approved, I immediately made the virtual card my primary Apple Pay card and was able to use it. When I got the physical card I activated it and it works fine. But I'd never consider trying to activate it before it actually arrived.

plovell said:

I'm not sure I like the idea of linking Apple Card to my bank account. I would prefer to pay directly FROM my bank, rather than having Goldman Sachs PULL money from my account.

I'm with you 100%, but it looks like that's the only way to pay off the card. There is a slim chance that you can use your bank's Bill Pay to send them a payment. I'm trying that, hoping that it works. Otherwise I'll have to link my bank before the end of the month.

iOS_Guy80 said:
I agree but either way you or your bank are initiating payment from your account by ACH transaction. 

ACH transaction isn't the issue. It's having G-S (or anybody, for that matter) pulling money from your account instead of your bank doling money out as you direct. Linked to your account, is there anything to stop G-S from literally taking money out of your account, akin to a gym debiting your account for their monthly payments?

From the ZDNet link DED referenced:

The president of Mastercard North America, Craig Vosburg, recently explained on CNBC that this product is more secure because users get a one-time use number in the Wallet app. "The real key to the enhanced security here is happening behind the scenes where we're tokenizing the card credentials."
He added, "We're taking the digital representation of that 16-digit number and scrambling [it] into a code that only we and Goldman Sachs can recognize. We know where it's meant to be used. We know it's meant to be used with that Apple device and if it shows up somewhere else, we know it's been compromised and we can kill it."

I've been unclear about this bit and this is the most I've seen mentioned. If this is the case, that means that you don't have to get a phone call or text asking 'Did you do this?' This means that fraud is basically instantly prevented, a great thing for both us and G-S. 

I wonder if any other cards are offering this specific, equivalent, or superior feature. This is much better than the typical 'You're not responsible for... if...' protection.

People who dislike the Apple Card, here and elsewhere, deny it's unique benefits while extolling the virtues of their many cards of preference. Something of a less than objective comparison. So among them I wonder which issuer offers this particular feature.

This is not the one card for everything. No one card is. But for many, there is one card that ticks enough boxes that they don't need Bullwinkle's wallet. Others prefer the 'Pick a card, any card'. 

Whatever works of any given individual is fine by me. But they should at least be honest about why they do what they do.

seanismorris said:

I’d be tempted to generate a new credit card number for every online purchase... 

Generating a new credit card number on the fly, might be the #1 advantage of Apple Card.

I remember reading early on that this was a feature of the card. Further, it was to be valid only for that vendor so if tried elsewhere, it would fail.This was long before much was known about it, so it may have been an erroneous assumption, but such a feature would be HUGE.

Some cards apparently can call up a onetime virtual card number for every online purchase, but that feature is far from ubiquitous. I'd happily settle for a semi-static virtual number good for only one vendor.

I keep my cards 'on file' with only two vendors, and that's really two too many. And that doesn't mean that their info isn't still on vendor servers somewhere. Maybe putting them in Safari should be considered, until something better comes along.

boxcatcher said:

Man, if someone can’t figure this out on their own ...

That's easy to say while looking at a tutorial.  That said, a UI should be intuitive enough where nobody has to 'figure' it out at all. And a lot of Apple UI is not well done.

Also this little tutorial serves to answer all the panicky questions about buying online that people have been asking since the card was announced. Now they can know in advance without having to figure it out.

Despite the eavesdropping potential of any Google or Amazon product, competition is good.

There are people who are and won't be concerned about Amazon and Google's data collection practices. Their devices are and probably will be priced the same or cheaper than the HomePod. Alexa is quite superior to Siri in many ways, at least for the time being.

I only have one HomePod at the moment, but plan on getting another one. I like that they will 'pair up' for true stereo. An ATV is yet to grace my room, but it's on the list. Good to know the HP will play nice with it.

I was reading last night, with room lights low and not a sound in the house, when the HP lit up and a got a couple of seconds of swirling light. The HP has done this from time to time, sometimes probably triggered by something it 'heard' on the TV resembling the trigger.

This is the second time it's been dead quiet and Siri has woken up and taken a quick listen. I'm curious as to why and if anybody else has that experience.