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Posts tagged with "Apple Card"

FinanceKit Opens Real-Time Apple Card, Apple Cash, and Apple Savings Transaction Data to Third-Party Apps→

Ivan Mehta, writing for TechCrunch:

Apple’s iOS 17.4 update is primarily about adapting iOS to EU’s Digital Market Act Regulation. But the company has also released a new API called FinanceKit that lets developers fetch transactions and balance information from Apple Card, Apple Cash, and Savings with Apple.

If you use an Apple Card and a budgeting and financial tracking app, you’ll know why this is a big deal. I’ve been tracking my expenses with Copilot for over a year now, and I was pleased to see in Mehta’s story that Copilot, along with YNAB, Monarch, have teamed up with Apple to be the first third-party apps to use FinanceKit.

Before FinanceKit, I could only track my Apple Card expenses by importing a CSV file of my transactions one time each month when a new statement appeared in the Wallet app. Not only was that laborious, but it defeated the purpose of an app like Copilot, which otherwise lets you see where you stand with your budget in real-time. The process was such a bad experience that I used my Apple Card a lot less than I would have otherwise. Now, those Apple Card transactions will be recorded in Copilot, YNAB, and Monarch as they’re made, just like any other credit card.

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Apple Announces Apple Card Family

At this morning’s keynote, Apple announced an update to Apple Card in which family members can be co-owners of a single card. Apple Card Family accounts will have merged credit lines so that all members can build their credit equally on shared purchases. The feature ties into Apple’s Family Sharing feature, and is available for sharing Apple Cards with children as well.

Apple Card Family includes parental controls like credit limits to help teach healthy credit card habits. For adults, all members of the family can track and manage their spending habits together.

Up to five people can be added to an Apple Card Family account, but all of them must first be part of an Apple Family Sharing group. While children can be added too, they must be at least 13 years of age. Existing Apple Card users can merge their accounts together into a new Apple Card Family account. Merging accounts will combine their credit limits, but the resulting APR will just be the lowest of the merged accounts.

Apple Card’s usual 1%-3% Daily Cash benefits are unchanged for Apple Card Family, but now even more merchants are part of the 3% Daily Cash program. These include Uber (and Uber Eats), Walgreens, Nike, Panera, T-Mobile, and ExxonMobil. You can find the full Daily Cash benefits and more information on Apple Card on Apple’s website.

Apple Card Family is launching this May.

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Apple Debuts Web Portal for Apple Card Management

Apple Card users can now view their entire transaction history, make payments, and more from card.apple.com.

Launched today, the new web portal for Apple Card users addresses a concern prospective users voiced when Apple Card first launched: how do I manage my credit card if I lose my iPhone (and/or iPad)? That should no longer be an issue, since Apple’s website now enables users to:

  • Check their Apple Card balance
  • Make payments, including setting up scheduled payments
  • Download PDF statements of monthly activity
  • View information about their Apple Card Monthly Installments
  • Set up and remove bank accounts
The new card.apple.com landing page.

The new card.apple.com landing page.

The timing of this new web portal coincides nicely with a special promotion Apple just started, which offers new Apple Card users a $50 credit to use toward Apple services. Just a couple weeks ago, Apple Card also gained special 0% financing options for a host of Apple products, including Macs, iPads, AirPods, and more.

I’ve been an Apple Card user since the beginning and love it. While I don’t expect to use the web interface on a regular basis, it’s a great option for people who need it, and I’m happy to see Apple continue to make the product more appealing.

Apple Card 0% Financing Option Now Available for iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and More

If you’re an Apple Card user, starting today purchases directly from Apple will offer a new payment option: 0% financing monthly installments using Apple Card.

Before today, 0% financing with Apple Card has been available for new iPhone purchases, but on a recent quarterly earnings call Tim Cook shared that the company was planning to expand that option to more product categories. One week before WWDC kicks off, Apple has launched that expanded array of financing options for its other products. If you live in the US – the only place Apple Card is currently available – then when using the Apple Store app or browsing the store at apple.com, you’ll see monthly payments as a new option.

Pay for new Apple products over time, interest-free with Apple Card. Just select Apple Card Monthly Installments when you check out.

New purchasing options for the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

New purchasing options for the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The length of the 0% financing offer varies based on the product you purchase. Lower cost products such as AirPods and AirPods Pro offer 6-month payment plans, whereas more expensive products like iPads and Macs offer 12-month plans. Curiously, the Apple Watch is the one major product without financing options available.

Fun fact: thanks to Apple Card monthly installments you can now get a maxed-out rack-mountable Mac Pro for the low price of just $4,491.58 per month.

After the set period for 0% financing expires, the remaining balance of the product will be charged to your Apple Card and be subject to your standard interest rate.

I’ve had an Apple Card since the product first launched, and love it. Adding new, more flexible payment options for Apple purchases seems like a no-brainer new option, and I’m sure I’ll be using it for my next big purchase.

Apple Card Now Available for All US Customers, Adds New 3% Daily Cash Partners

Following a limited preview earlier this month, Apple has today opened up applications for Apple Card to all US customers. Users can apply through the Wallet app on an iPhone running iOS 12.4 or later, and in most cases receive instant access to Apple Card if approved. Opening the Wallet app then tapping the plus button in the top-right leads to the option to add Apple Card.

Alongside Apple Card’s wide release, Apple is announcing that its Daily Cash program is getting better thanks to a new partner that supports the highest 3% Daily Cash rate which was previously exclusive to Apple purchases.

Apple Card is extending 3 percent Daily Cash to more merchants and apps. Starting today, customers will receive 3 percent Daily Cash when they use Apple Card with Apple Pay for Uber and Uber Eats. Customers can request a ride through Uber in more than 700 cities across the globe and order a meal through Uber Eats in more than 500 cities around the world. Apple Card will continue to add more popular merchants and apps in the coming months.

Apple has never before mentioned that it would be seeking additional partners to support the 3% Daily Cash rate. Initially that rate was limited to purchases from the Apple Store, Apple.com, the App Store, and other Apple services; 2% is the standard Daily Cash rate available for Apple Pay transactions, and 1% for everything else. Adding Uber and Uber Eats to the 3% pool, with “more popular merchants and apps” in the pipeline for future partnerships, makes Apple Card’s Daily Cash program more attractive than before – a welcome surprise for the card’s wide release.

Apple Card Available Today in Phased Rollout, Full Launch Coming Later in August

Today Apple is officially launching its latest service, Apple Card, but only to a subset of users ahead of a broader rollout later this month. The new credit card is limited to US users running at least iOS 12.4, and today it will only be available to certain people who signed up on Apple’s website to be notified about Apple Card. If you’re part of that chosen group, applying for Apple Card can be done right inside the Wallet app, where the card will be added for immediate use upon credit approval; a physical credit card is also mailed out if you choose to receive one, built from titanium. For those who don’t get invited for early access, the full Apple Card launch will arrive before the end of August.

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Matthew Panzarino Explains How the Apple Card Will Work→

The Apple Card has been the subject of a lot of attention and speculation since it was announced at Monday’s Apple event. The US-only card won’t be out until this summer, but Matthew Panzarino, TechCrunch’s Editor-in-Chief, has details on exactly how the card will work that weren’t covered during the keynote.

Panzarino sums up the card’s benefits nicely:

Overall the Apple Card has some relatively unique and interesting takes on data transparency for users, who are getting what appears to be an information rich but easy to interpret interface that rivals the best apps (like the AMEX app) out there for consumer cards. It’s also got a solid set of security features that are missing only a couple of small improvements like per-merchant or per-transaction numbers that would make them the best offering in the industry.

The security and financial tracking the card will enable is attractive and the cash benefits are competitive, but there are limitations that may be an issue for some potential customers. For instance, the Apple Card is a single-user card, which means multiple family members cannot use the same account.

Panzarino’s piece clears up misinformation that has spread since the keynote and uncovers other tidbits that make it easier to compare the new card side-by-side with competing offerings. If what you’ve heard about the Apple Card interests you, Panzarino’s article is an excellent one-stop destination to learn more.

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Apple Card: The MacStories Overview

This morning at Apple’s special event in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park, Vice President of Apple Pay Jennifer Bailey took the stage to announce Apple Card. These “Apple” name prefixes are growing tedious, but Apple Card is looking to reduce the tedium which permeates the credit card industry. Apple is championing its credit card as a new industry leader in a variety of areas, including privacy, security, transparency, lack of fees, and fair interest rates. Apple Card gives rewards in cash rather than points, and these “Daily Cash” rewards are distributed to your Apple Cash account every day. If Apple Card can deliver on its promises, it shows real potential to be a disruptor in the often exploitative credit card industry.

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