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posted by martyb on Wednesday March 27 2019, @12:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the what's-the-catch? dept.

Apple announces Apple Card credit card

At Apple's "show time" services event today, it announced a new Apple Card credit card, promising to improve things about the credit card experience with simpler applications, no fees, lower interest rates, and better rewards.

To get an Apple Card, users will be able to sign up on their iPhone in the Apple Wallet app and get a digital card that they can use anywhere Apple Pay is accepted "within minutes." Customers will also be able to track purchases, check balances, and see when their bill is due right from the app. There will be a physical titanium card, too, but there's no credit card number, CVV, expiration date, or signature. All of that authorization information is stored directly in the Apple Wallet app.

Apple also says that it'll use machine learning and Apple Maps to label stores that you use in the app, and use that data to track purchases across categories like "food and drink" or "shopping." [...] Like many of Apple's products, privacy is a big push here. "Apple doesn't know what you bought, where you bought it, and how much you paid for it," said Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay. All of the spending tracking and other information is stored directly on the device, not Apple's servers. The company also promises that "Goldman Sachs will never sell your data to third parties for marketing and advertising."

Other companies have offered 3-4% cash back for certain purchases.

Also at Ars Technica.

See also: Apple's 2%-cash-back credit-card rewards are interesting, but I'm convinced people are overlooking the best part
Apple's new credit card holds a lot of promise, but read the fine print before signing up
Tim Cook says Apple Card is a game changer. Experts are not so sure
Apple's move into banking raises the bar for fintech, traditional credit cards


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bradley13 on Wednesday March 27 2019, @06:08AM (12 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @06:08AM (#820501) Homepage Journal

    Cash-back is a scam. "Hey, give me a hundred bucks, and I'll give you two of them back, what a deal!"

    The credit card companies are taking this out of their merchant fees, and the merchants have to cover those fees in their prices. So they're just giving you your own money back. And no late fees? Who needs them - they'll be charging you interest on your increased balance.

    If Apple really wanted to revolutionize the market, they wouldn't issue a Mastercard. Mastercard and Visa (two faces of the same coin) won't let anyone seriously revolutionize the market, because there's far too much money at stake. A revolutionary card would slash the merchant fees, and encourage merchants to pass the discounts on to their customers.

    Why governments haven't gone after Mastercard/Visa for abuse of their monopoly, I really don't understand. And they are a monopoly: most banks issue both, and the terms for the cards are essentially identical - there is zero competition between them.

    --
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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by bradley13 on Wednesday March 27 2019, @06:17AM (3 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @06:17AM (#820503) Homepage Journal

    Oh, and the interest rates: "APR rates ranging from 13.24 percent to 24.24 percent based on credit". What's not to like? I mean, Freddie the loan shark uses similar rates. By eliminating late fees, of course, they are encouraging people to carry a permanent balance.

    I just checked a local organization that advertises "easy loans" on TV - they're a bit better than your payday loan places - and they charge between 7.9% and 9.9%. Anyone paying 15%-20% for a loan is just...well, they probably shouldn't be handling their own money.

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: 2) by sgleysti on Wednesday March 27 2019, @01:52PM (2 children)

      by sgleysti (56) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 27 2019, @01:52PM (#820628)

      What crime is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of one?

      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday March 27 2019, @09:44PM (1 child)

        by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @09:44PM (#820975)

        Founding a bank is a criminally stupid misuse of funds : Religions and universities get tax-exempt status.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 28 2019, @01:10PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 28 2019, @01:10PM (#821281)

          oh bullshit, bank gets to:
          - loan you a 1000 dollars
          - while having 15 dollars (the required reserve ratio is 1.5% last in our wonderfull fractional reserve system last time I checked)
          - yet charge you interest on the full 1000 dollars

          tax exempt status is good but does not beat that kind of legal fraud

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @12:12PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @12:12PM (#820584)

    Why governments haven't gone after Mastercard/Visa for abuse of their monopoly, I really don't understand.

    Visa political contributions in USA: https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000029689&cycle=2018 [opensecrets.org]

    Mastercard political contributions in USA: https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000022099&cycle=2018 [opensecrets.org]

    This is just direct contributions. Visa appears to have a PAC (political action committee) as well; I didn't check Mastercard.

    What's sad is not that our "representatives" can be bribed, it's that they can be had for such a low price.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday March 27 2019, @02:23PM (6 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 27 2019, @02:23PM (#820650) Journal

    Cash-back is a scam. "Hey, give me a hundred bucks, and I'll give you two of them back, what a deal!"

    I beg to differ.

    I don't give the CC companies a hundred bucks.

    The credit card companies are taking this out of their merchant fees,

    That's how the CC companies make their money.

    and the merchants have to cover those fees in their prices. So they're just giving you your own money back.

    Almost right. They're giving me back OTHER PEOPLE's money.

    I pay $100 for an item at Walmart. I get, say 3% back.

    You pay $100 cash for an item at Walmart. You get nothing back.

    Who is subsidizing who?

    As you said, YOU are paying to cover MY cc's merchant fees built in to the retail price.

    And no late fees?

    I never have any late fees. Or any interest. We promptly pay off our CCs, even before the due date -- we don't want that money sitting in our checking account looking like it hasn't been spent yet.

    We never buy anything on CC that we aren't prepared to write a check for or pay cash for this very instant.

    But we do use CCs to buy any and everything we possibly can. Utility bills. Fuel. Groceries. Ice cream cones.

    You described it as a con, and you are correct. But those getting conned, or rather robbed are those who pay cash.

    Sorry, it's just how the system works. I go to Disney sometimes multiple times a year. I get one or 1.5 of my flights for free. We usually get a few hundred disney dollars. We also build up Amazon dollars and when it gets over $100 we start thinking about spending it.

    A red Target card gives you back 5% right at the check out register -- for doing NOTHING but paying using their card. (And then paying promptly before they even send you a bill.)

    Clue: I can buy a couple thousand dollars of Disney Gift Cards at Target -- and get 5% off at the register. The 5% off of a couple thousand dollars is real actual money that I just saved. Those disney cards are then used at check in time to pay at the resort.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 1) by sveldkamp on Wednesday March 27 2019, @05:37PM (3 children)

      by sveldkamp (6064) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @05:37PM (#820795)

      "a couple thousand dollars... I just saved"

      You think you saved while spending thousands of dollars, which makes it very hard to believe you aren't spending more to get the cash back.
      You could take a cheaper vacation, but the credit card companies have this great cash back scheme they've sold you on.

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday March 27 2019, @06:44PM (2 children)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 27 2019, @06:44PM (#820852) Journal

        Did you actually read what I wrote?

        I'm going to Disney World. I'm going to pay X amount to check in to the resort. They accept Disney gift cards as payment. I realize that once I buy these cards, Disney is earning interest on them until I spend them. Thus I don't buy the cards until very close to my trip.

        So far, no problem right? I'm not getting any cash back. I'm spending exactly the amount as if I would pay cash when I check into the resort.

        I have to buy the Disney gift cards somewhere, so I'll buy them at Target. Why? Because if I buy them on my Target red card, I get 5% off at the cash register. This has nothing to do with Disney. If I buy Diet Coke at Target, I also get 5% off at the register using my Target card. Got that?

        I don't know what "cash back scheme" you're talking about. The 5% off is very real. I pay off my Target card, and NEVER have any late fees, nor any interest. Ever. Never ever. I also don't use my Target card (or any credit cards) unless I'm prepared to pay hard cash right now!

        So what exactly are you talking about?

        At Target, I can buy any kind of gift card, and get 5% off at the register. But where that really matters is when I'm going to spend big on gift cards. I'm probably never going to buy a single iTunes gift card -- let along several thousand dollars worth. But if I did, I would still get 5% off if I pay with my red card. Does that make sense?

        > You could take a cheaper vacation

        Yes, but that is completely irrelevant.

        Even without that 5% from Target, I would not take a different vacation. I'm buying that vacation because it is what I want. Just like I choose to buy chocolate ice cream instead of roadkill flavor ice cream.

        Now getting a few hundred bucks free Disney dollars from a Disney Chase Visa card might make some difference in how often I would go. And not getting a free flight or so from a Southwest Chase Visa might make a difference in whether I would take ANY vacation at all.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday March 27 2019, @10:13PM (1 child)

          by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @10:13PM (#820994)

          Well, instead of paying an extra 6% to subsidize your 5% discount, I just buy the stuff online, where they charge an extra 3% to cover my 2% cash back CC.
          Target's price ends up higher, so they lose customers, and the city bitches that it gets empty storefronts.

          Of course the people without CC just subsidize us all, except that they bother to go coupon-hunting, so they think I'm subsidizing them.

          Glory to the system that makes you believe that you're always shafting someone else, and rests on making you fear you'll lose everything!

          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday March 28 2019, @03:04PM

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 28 2019, @03:04PM (#821339) Journal

            I would never spend the effort to do coupon-ing.

            Simply using CCs and paying them is pretty easy. How hard is that? My utility bills are on auto-pay to the CC.

            Buy groceries use CC. Buy fuel, use CC. Buy Target, use Target CC. Buy Walmart, use CC. Buy Amazon, use Amazon CC. Etc.

            Just don't buy things you wouldn't write a check for right now.

            --
            People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by MindEscapes on Wednesday March 27 2019, @05:53PM (1 child)

      by MindEscapes (6751) on Wednesday March 27 2019, @05:53PM (#820815) Homepage

      While I do this as well, it really is another way we rob the poor to pay the rich.

      All of those people unable to get reliable credit that have to use cash and cash card equivalents are paying more so that you, who are financially stable enough to get reasonable credit, can get a discount.

      --
      Need a break? mindescapes.net may be for you!
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday March 27 2019, @06:53PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 27 2019, @06:53PM (#820862) Journal

        it really is another way we rob the poor to pay the rich.

        Yes, it absolutely is. That is why I point it out every chance it is on topic.

        The system is rigged. I'm taking advantage of how it works.

        I use CC's like crazy. I never borrow money on them. I immediately pay them off every few days. I don't buy anything that I wouldn't write a check for. I'm only buying things I ordinarily would buy. Food. Fuel. Utilities. A new USB-C cable. Etc. I never have late fees. I never pay interest. I have no annual fee.

        I'm also telling other people how it works. BUT . . . if you're going to pay this game, you better have the discipline to NOT buy things you cannot afford. If you are ever borrowing a single cent on a credit card -- YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG !!!

        All of those people unable to get reliable credit that have to use cash and cash card equivalents are paying more

        A couple decades ago, I was one of those people.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.