The Apple Card has been available for several years at this point and has proven to be a very popular credit card. However, despite its popularity, there are a few things to consider before signing up for the Apple Card. Here’s what you need to know.
Apple Card Quick Info Apply for and manage it right in the Wallet app on your iPhone Get a free Apple-designed Titan card No late fees No over-limit fees No international transaction fees Created by Apple using a Goldman Sachs-backed financial system Backend All payments due on the last day of the month Find out if you’re eligible with just a soft credit check of Apple Card benefits
The Apple Card offers a number of rewards and perks that make it enticing for a variety of reasons. The most important feature is the opportunity to earn “Unlimited Day Cashback” with every purchase. However, the amount of this cashback depends on where and how you make this purchase.
3% daily cashback on all purchases in Apple Stores, on the Apple website and on all digital purchases in the App Store, iTunes and on Apple services such as Apple Music and Apple TV+ 2% daily cashback on all Apple Pay purchases online and in -Save 1% daily cashback on all other purchases
You can also get 3% cashback every day when you shop with Apple Pay at a selection of select stores and retailers:
Ace Hardware Exxon Nike T-Mobile Uber Eats Duane Reade Mobile Panera Bread Uber Walgreens Apple Card Monthly Installments
Another nice perk of the Apple Card is its Monthly Installments feature, which lets you fund any Apple product purchase over time with zero percent interest.
If you’re an Apple Card user, you’ll see the Apple Card Monthly Installments funding option. You can use this option to finance pretty much any Apple product, including all of Apple’s primary product categories:
iPhone: 24-month finances Mac: 12-month finances iPad: 12-month finances Apple Watch: 24-month finances AirPods: 6-month finances Apple TV 4K: 6-month finances
When you trade in an iPhone for a new iPhone, the value of that trade-in is immediately deducted from the purchase price of the new iPhone, reducing your monthly payment.
You’ll also earn 3% daily cash on all Apple Card monthly installments. For example, if you buy an iPhone 14 for $799, you’ll immediately get the full 3% Daily Cash credit, or about $24, even though you haven’t paid for the device yet.
Apple Card monthly installments don’t require an approval process. Instead, the balance of your installments counts toward your total Apple Card credit limit. For example, if you have a $5,000 credit limit and are financing an Apple iPhone 14, the cost of that iPhone 14 will be deducted from your total credit limit.
What is daily allowance?
“Daily Cash” is what Apple calls the cashback you earn with Apple Card purchases. You’ll earn daily cash in your Apple Card balance right after your purchase. This differs from many other cash back cards that only return the money at the end of each billing cycle.
By default, Daily Cash is deposited directly into your Apple Cash balance. Apple Cash is a separate card in the Wallet app that is effectively Apple’s competitor to other payment services like Venmo and the Cash app.
Money in your Apple Cash account can be used for Apple Pay purchases, sent to friends and family through messages, or deposited into your linked bank account. You can also use your Apple Cash balance to pay out your Apple Card balance yourself.
Another option available is to have Daily Cash rewards credited to your Apple Card balance instantly. This works if you don’t have an Apple Cash account.
Apple Card security and privacy
Apple Card also offers a handful of security and privacy features that can help protect your information and finances to prevent unauthorized transactions.
Advanced fraud protection: The card security code is automatically updated every day. No card number or security code on the physical card itself Ability to lock your Apple Card from the Wallet app Real-time transaction notifications from the Wallet app Is the Apple Card worth it?
Now that we’ve gone through the benefits and features of the Apple Card, we can talk about whether or not it’s worth it.
For a card with no annual fee, the Apple Card offers some enticing perks and reward options — especially for people who spend a decent amount of money directly with Apple.
The Apple Card is worthwhile if the following things apply to you:
You don’t have to worry about the potential one-off hit to your credit score. Apple Pay is widely accepted as a payment option by the stores and websites you shop at. You buy products from Apple, the App Store and Apple Services. You can responsibly use the Apple Card Monthly Installments option for 0% financing on Apple products. They appreciate the ability to manage everything from the Wallet app on your iPhone. There is also a web interface for Apple Card, but the Wallet app is the best way to manage Apple Card.
That doesn’t mean the Apple Card is an essential credit card, though. There are similarly competitive cashback options from companies like Chase, Citi, and Discover. You can also check out American Express’ options, many of which offer more enticing rewards, as long as you know the best way to redeem Membership Rewards points.
I had the chance to talk about the Apple Card with Emmanuel Crouisier, the developer of the popular CardPointers app. CardPointers is an excellent app for iPhone, iPad and Mac that will help you maximize your credit card rewards.
There are so many other benefits of a good rewards card, like a Chase Freedom, Sapphire Preferred, Citi Premier, or Amex Gold card. These cards allow you to earn transferable points that you can transfer to airlines and hotels to get much more value from the points you earn – and their point multipliers for most categories are also much higher than the Apple Card.
The Apple Card allows you to get a maximum of 3% back on your purchase, while the cards I mentioned allow you to get 5x points back in some categories like restaurants, gas stations, etc., and those points are worth even more since you can use them for things like Redeem business class seats to Europe.
If someone spends $10,000 on their Apple Card in a year, the most they will get back is $300, while the same $10,000 they spend on a good rewards card can earn them 50,000 points, and those points can be worth 4 cents or more on a good redemption, meaning the actual value would be $2,000. Literally 7x more value from using a good rewards card, and that’s exactly what CardPointers helps users to do – earn more on every purchase just by paying with the right card.
Even if you just want to focus on cashback, other cards can earn the same cashback as the Apple Card at even more categories and retailers. I’d love to see the Apple Card continue to improve their income tiers, and more and more banks are doing business directly with certain merchants as a form of advertising, so I think we’ll continue to see more of that with all cards as a new revenue stream for them.
9to5Mac readers can save 30% off CardPointers’ regular price and receive a $100 savings card as a sign-up bonus.
As always, credit cards are only a broad funding tool if you pay them off every month. Once you start having a balance and paying interest, the credit card company makes money on you. The rewards you receive will never outweigh the interest cost.
What do you think about Apple Card? Already an Apple Card user or considering applying? Let us know in the comments.
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