Apple Card is a credit card developed by Apple Inc., designed primarily to be used with Apple Pay on Apple devices such as an iPhone or Apple Watch. It will be available in the United States at launch in the summer of 2019.
Apple Card was announced at an Apple Special Eventon March 25, 2019, which focused on new services provided by Apple.
With its latest product, Apple wants your money. But it also wants to be your personal finance coach. The company is pitching the Apple Card as a way to “help customers lead a healthier financial life,” mostly through an intuitive app interface, a lack of fees and a unique new payment structure. The Card, issued in partnership with Goldman Sachs, does appear to give consumers greater control and understanding of their debt.
The benefits for Apple are clear, but there’s a potential upside for users too. More and more people are drawn to the convenience of mobile wallets, and replacing your credit card with your iPhone seems like a natural evolution. Apple’s promises about transparency, privacy and security are very alluring, and it’s encouraging to see a tech titan take on an industry that’s historically taken advantage of consumer confusion. But before you get too excited or angry about the Card, there are some important issues to discuss.
How can we Get Apple Card?
Basically, it’s a credit card. But it’s different from conventional cards in that you don’t need a piece of plastic before you can start using it. You can sign up from your iPhone, get approved in minutes and use it immediately via Apple Pay. The company will send you a physical card (which Apple crafts from titanium) for times when you need one, like for starting a tab at a bar or to pay a merchant that doesn’t take Apple Pay. You can get it for free, and it’ll arrive in the mail within two days.
You need an iPhone
Apple Card is built to work with your Wallet and you need to own an iPhone to set it up. Each card is uniquely connected to your device.
How long does it take to sign up?
You can join the service in a few minutes and begin using it almost
Here is everything we know so far about the card, and links to additional resources.
Apple Card is the company’s all-new credit card and its announcement has generated a huge amount of interest. Here is everything we know so far about the card, and links to additional resources.
“Apple Card is designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life, which starts with a better understanding of their spending so they can make smarter choices with their money, transparency to help them understand how much it will cost if they want to pay over time and ways to help them pay down their balance,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay, announcing the service.
So, what do we know?
You need an iPhone
Apple Card is built to work with your Wallet and you need to own an iPhone to set it up. Each card is uniquely connected to your device.
How long does it take to sign up?
You can join the service in a few minutes and begin using it almost immediately.
How do I activate the card?
For activation just Tap the physical card with your iPhone when your receive it
Where are the card numbers?
You’ll find no long number on Apple Card – to get that number you must look at it inside the Wallet app. Even then you will only see the last 4-digits of the actual card number.
How do I use a card without a number?
Apple provides you with a virtual card number and CVV code inside the app. You can keep this number as long as you like and use it to pay for items online or over the phone.
What happens if I lose my physical card?
You can get a free replacement. You can also freeze the card using the app on your iPhone
How does the card know who it is?
When you set-up your Apple Card a unique device number is created on your iPhone. This is kept safely in the Secure Element, which can only be unlocked by you.
The unique security and privacy architecture created for Apple Card means Apple doesn’t know where a customer shopped, what they bought or how much they paid.
Can I create a new number?
You can generate a new primary Apple Card number if you wish, such as when you fear your payment details are compromised.
How do I repay the card?
You can use Apple Cash to pay your balance. You can also pay directly from your bank account.
What happens when I lose that physical card or my iPhone?
Since the titanium card doesn’t show your credit card number, expiration date or signature, it makes it harder to steal your information. But because all it has is your name, anyone with your card could potentially take it and start spending. You’d have to be quick to lock your card when you realize it’s missing to avoid letting a thief rack up huge transactions. If you’ve only temporarily misplaced your card, you can unlock your account once you’ve retrieved it.
Compared with a traditional card, this is more convenient than calling your bank to get it canceled. But service providers like Capital One have already been making it easier to keep track of your card and suspend your account at will, so Apple isn’t breaking new ground here.
If you lose your iPhone, you’ll need to go to a computer and sign into your iCloud to find it. The good news is that Apple Pay transactions will still require your Face ID or fingerprint authorization, but payments with the physical card won’t. What’s also nice is that when your replacement phone arrives, all you have to do is sign into your Apple account, and your Card information automatically transfers over, too.
Things should be pretty clear to anyone by now that all our credit card purchases are being used to target ads to us. But Apple and Goldman Sachs said they won’t sell your information for advertising or marketing purposes. (Though that doesn’t mean they won’t use your data themselves or for other purposes.)
Like every major financial decision you make, getting an Apple Card shouldn’t be taken lightly. Managing your credit requires a great deal of responsibility and some restraint. If you’re thinking about it as yet another credit line to use on things you won’t ever be able to pay off, don’t do it. Apple may not be offering much that existing credit card companies haven’t already, but its entrance into the space will at least create healthy competition that bodes well for consumers.