Apple Card by Goldman Sachs

[Anonymous]

The physical metal card has no card number, CCV code, expiration date, and no signature. The numbers can be found in the Wallet App. AutoFill will fill the numbers when using Safari. It gives 3% "daily" cash back on Apple products, 2% "daily" cash back on all other purchases with Apple Pay, and 1% with the card. It has no fees (i.e. foreign transaction fees, yearly fees, over-limit fees, and late fees). One fee does apply: late or missed payment wil result in additional interest. It is based on the Mastercard network.

There is no plan for a sign-up bonus. The underwriting is a mystery but Apple plans to make it as accessible as possible. There is no mention of authorized user cards. It is also unclear as to if the card will be a World Elite Mastercard.

Customer service will be accessible through text message - I would think it is AI based.

On the Wallet App it provides a more modern look and credit card experience. The Wallet App allows you to schedule payments as often as you want. It provides a breakdown of your spending habits and it helps you determine the interest that you will pay if you pay a certain amount for the month. It offers a "competitively" low interest rate. An Apple promotion shows a variable APR from 13.24% to 24.24% based on creditworthiness as of March 2019.

Apple also promises that "Goldman Sachs will never sell your data to third parties for marketing and advertising." The card is expected summer 2019.

What are your thoughts on the card?

I will update as more information becomes available.

[Anonymous]

It definitely sounds like it's poised to shake-up the credit card industry. I'm going to keep my eye on this one as it could be worth coming out of the garden for if there's a decent SUB.

[Anonymous]

It's unique. I still don't know how I feel about this..

[Anonymous]

Looks kinda meh as far as rewards are concerned. I’m sure fanboys will eat it up, card being titanium and all.

[Anonymous]

maybe for purchases in app store (music and apps)

for other categories - not interesting at all

[Sevenfeet]

A 2% cash back card for purchases makes it competitive with other cash back cards without having to do categories or other "gamification".  If anything, the "gamification" is the Mint-style money management features built into the Apple Wallet app.  3% at Apple Stores makes sense.  And although the physical card is a sleek titanium metal card, curiously you only get 1% cash back using the physical card giving everyone an big incentive to use Apple Pay and not take the actual card out of your wallet.

I like the fact that you can easily setup multi-payment days to keep interest charges to a minimum....how often is this touted as a "feature" with other cards?  Apple is saying that interest rates will be industry leading....we'll have to see what that means.  But I'd love an excuse not to use some of my "gamification" cards with higher interest rates (I'm looking at you Discover and USBank).

[Anonymous]

The payment/interest/money management tools and data sounds interesting if that is something that appeals to you.

No card #/exp or other info other than your name on the physical card sounds neat - is that a first?

[Anonymous]

All the places I shop use Apple Pay so it’s essentially a 2% card. With no info on the card I guess the CVV and other info is in the app?

[Anonymous]

Edited: I went for it so this is no longer relevant. 

[DeeBee78]

I think Apple had an opportunity to truly revolutionize the credit card industry, and only partially did. a 3-2-1 card is nothing new, and you're forced into 1% by needing to use the physical card when a brick & mortar or online merchant doesn't support Apple Pay. 

The no fees aspect is nice, but somewhat useless since overlimit fees are essentially extinct or opt-in anyways, and there are plenty of other cards out there with no annual fee or FTF. I would imagine that the majority of consumers paying their bills on time don't even factor a late fee into the decision making of opening a new account.

I'm a pretty big Apple spender, but I don't see this card making it into my rotation. University discount + no sales tax + 2% cashback on purchases is a hard combination to beat.