Are you curious about Apple’s new savings account and wondering whether or not it’s
worth it?
Well in this video, we’re going to be taking a closer look at Apple Card Savings and what
it has to offer.
Hey everyone, this is Kyle from Money@30 and on this channel we look at personal finance
from a millennial perspective, including app and tool reviews like this one.
After originally announcing in fall 2022 that it would be launch a savings account, Apple
Card Savings officially debuted in April 2023 to some fanfare.
But does it really live up to the hype?
Let’s take a look at the account, the benefits, and what else you need to know about it,
The first thing to know about Apple Card Savings is that you’ll need to be an Apple Card
customer in order to have access.
As the name seems to imply, Apple Card Savings is a feature that is exclusive to Apple Card
customers.
So, if that’s not you and you don’t want to get the card, I guess you can shut this
video off now but I’d appreciate it if you stick around for the algorithm.
What’s more, you’ll need to make sure your iPhone is up to date before opening an
account as you’ll apparently need to be running iOS 16.4 or newer.
Oddly, the option to open an Apple Card Savings account is somewhat buried at the moment.
First, you’ll need to go to your Apple Card in Wallet, tap the three-dot icon, select
Daily Cash, and then you should see the option to set up Savings.
Be aware that you will need to confirm your full social security number as part of the
process as well as accept the account terms.
By the way, Apple Card Savings funds are held with Goldman Sachs and, in turn, are FDIC
insured up to $250,000 per depositor.
Next, once you do open your Savings account, you can manage it in Wallet using the Apple
Card interface.
After your account is set up, you’ll see a widget for it on the Apple Card page in
Wallet.
Tapping this option will allow you to view a graph of your balance over time as well
as see recent Savings transactions.
Here is also where you can make withdrawals from or deposits to your account.
This includes instant transfers to or from your Apple Cash account or regular-speed transfers
to or from a linked external banking account.
That said, I did notice that Apple begins paying interest on funds the day that a deposit
is initiated even though the transaction won't fully settle until up to 5 days later.
By the way, you also link additional accounts by going to the Savings page, tapping the
three-dot icon, selecting account details, and scrolling down to bank accounts.
Finally, you can also opt into notifications to receive alerts when your APY is updated
and/or when interest payments are deposited into your account.
By default, all of your earned Apple Card Daily Cash will automatically be deposited
into your Apple Card Savings account, but you can add other funds as well.
One of the stated reasons why Apple created a Savings account was to give Apple Card customers
a play to store the Daily Cash they earn from Apple Card purchases.
As a refresher, the Apple Card earns 2% Daily Cash on purchases made using the card via
Apple Pay as well as 3% Daily Cash on purchases from Apple and select brands including Uber/Uber
Eats, Walgreens/Duane Reade, Exxon/Mobil, Nike, Panera, T-Mobile, and Ace.
Those earnings will be deposited directly to your Apple Card Savings once you open an
account.
But, if for some reason you wish to stop that, you can go to your Daily Cash page and revert
to sending your earnings to Apple Cash instead.
While interest rates are always changing, for now at least, Apple Card Savings boasts
one of the higher APYs that you can find
At the time of its launch and at the time that I’m shooting this video, Apple Card
Savings is offering customers 4.15% APY on funds.
For context, that’s a bit higher than other options like Discover or Ally and, funny enough,
is also 25 basis points higher than Marcus, which is another Goldman Sachs savings account.
While you may find higher rates somewhere, this is still quite solid by today’s standards
and is infinitely more than what you’re likely to get from a big bank.
Moreover, unlike some offerings, earning this 4.15% APY does not require you to set up direct
deposit, retain a certain balance, make a certain number of purchases per month, or
any other such nonsense that many banks and FinTechs employ.
For that reason alone, I’m giving the APY on Apple Card Savings a thumbs up for now.
Finally, before we get to my conclusion, I do want to pitch one idea I think Apple Card
Savings should adopt
Going hand-in-hand with the Apple Card’s unique Daily Cash cashback feature, wouldn’t
it be cool if Apple Card Savings paid out daily interest as well?
I sure happen to think so.
In fact, this is something that Current already does with its Savings Pods.
On that note, with Current recently basically wrecking their Savings Pods feature by requiring
direct deposit to earn anything resembling a respectable APY, the daily interest idea
is ripe for Apple to pick.
So, Apple, please feel free to implement this feature in the near future - and I won’t
even ask for a free Macbook in exchange.
Overall, if you already have an Apple Card, I think opening this Savings account is a
solid idea and an easy way to save.
However, if you aren’t already an Apple Card user, I’m not sure this moves the needle
much.
With a fairly impressive APY and a clever premise that automatically set your earned
cashback aside, I think Apple Card Savings is a strong addition to the Apple Car product.
In fact, I don’t really see a reason why most cardholders wouldn’t want to at least
give it a try.
At the same time, the account is very basic at the moment and even seemingly lacks the
ability to arrange for recurring deposits from external accounts.
But, hopefully, such features could be added over time.
As for the elephant in the room, seeing as the Apple Card is not highly regarded by many
credit card enthusiasts, I don’t really see Savings changing their minds.
Ultimately, if you were on the fence about the card already, then perhaps this addition
of this high-yield savings account is enough to pull you over but I certainly don’t think
it’s a gamechanger.
In any case, I’m personally happy to have an Apple Card Savings account and I look forward
to seeing how it and the Apple Card continue to evolve going forward.
Hopefully this gives you a better idea about what Apple Card Savings is all about.
But, for much more on the account, I’ll have a link to my full written review in the
description box down below.
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So thanks again for watching and I’ll see you next time here on Money@30