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Tech giant Apple is known for its hardware devices like the iPhone, MacBooks, iPods, Watch and software services like iOS, MacOS, Apple Music, Apple Pay, etc. At the ‘It’s Show Time’ event held at the Steve Job’s Theatre, Apple announced a new credit card called the Apple Card.
Apple launched Apple Pay back in 2014 which helped users carry transactions easily through their card details stored in the Apple Pay mobile Wallet app. Five years after the launch, Apple has given a significant update to the Apple Pay service with the launch of Apple Card.
Apple card is a virtual credit card that can be integrated into the Wallet app of the iPhone. The company has partnered with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard for payment handling and processing. The idea behind the launch of this new service is to replace the traditional credit card with a new, smarter and secure payment method across online and offline stores. Applying for an Apple Card is possible within the Apple Wallet app itself. Users can sign up for the card in the app and get a digital card that can be used for payments. Users can track expenses on a daily, weekly, monthly and even category-wise basis. There is also a physical titanium credit card which does not have any other information apart from the Apple Logo and the card holder’s name below it. This also means that there is no CVV, credit card number, expiration date, and signature that are usually found on traditional cards. All this information is stored in a special security chip used by Apple Pay called Secure Element.
Apple is releasing the credit card with an assurance of no late fees, no annual fees, no international fees, and no over-limit fees. Besides that, the company would also not charge penalties to users for late payments and offer lower interest rates as well. Users would get a cashback of two per cent for through Apple Pay by using the Apple Card and three per cent for making purchases from Apple’s services itself. However, if users make purchases through just the titanium card, they would be eligible for only one per cent cash back.
Apple’s big focus on privacy continues for Apple Card as well. The company stated that Apple would not know what users have bought, from where they brought the product and how much they paid for it. All the transactions are stored in the device itself, and Apple does not store them in its servers, claimed Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay, Bailey also assured that Apple’s partner Goldman Sachs would not sell data to the third party for marketing and advertisement. The service would only be available in the US starting Summer.
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