Apple Card: Unboxing & Review
Apple announced their very own credit credit earlier this year at their services keynote
in March, and although it was initially only released to select people through random invitations,
the card was officially released to the public on August 20th.
Now in this video we’re going to take a closer look at the physical card itself and
explore what makes the Apple Card different from other credit cards, so you can decide
whether or not it’s right for you.
This is Greg with Apple Explained and if you want to help decide which topics I cover,
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Now before we take a look at the physical card itself, I want to explain the concept
behind the Apple Card since it is quite different from traditional credit cards.
Apple developed this card in partnership with Goldman Sachs, the issuing bank, and Mastercard,
the payment network.
Apple put an emphasizing convenience with their card, and that means delegating as many
responsibilities to the Wallet app as possible.
Applying for the card, receiving approval, planning your payments, paying your bill,
tracking your spending, and receiving your rewards all happens from within the Wallet
app.
This is important to understand since unlike other credit cards, Apple doesn’t really
want you using their physical titanium card.
Instead, they want you to use the virtual card with Apple Pay.
Now if you want to apply for the card, you’ll do that by tapping the plus icon in the wallet
app and choosing Apple Card.
It’ll walk you through the application process by asking for information like your name,
income, and social security number.
Then based on your credit history Goldman Sachs will create on offer that you can either
accept or deny.
Now it’s important to note that there will only be a hard pull on your credit if you
accept the offer.
Applying for an Apple Card will result in a soft pull and won’t effect your credit.
You’ll need good to excellent credit to be approved for the card, and if you are denied,
it may be a blessing in disguise.
Consider this: According to the US Federal Reserve in 2016, 43% of Americans carried
credit card debt.
On which they were paying very high interest rates of up to 25 or 30%, and this has trapped
many families in a never-ending cycle of debt as interest piles up month after month.
But on the other hand, 57% of Americans always pay off their credit card bill at the end
of the month.
So if you haven’t been approved for the Apple Card but are confident in your financial
responsibility, check out the email you’ll receive shortly after being denied.
There Goldman Sachs will give a reason for your denial, and you can work on addressing
those issues before reapplying later on.
Now if you’re accepted, you’ll be assigned a card number with a security code and expiration
date so you can begin using the virtual card immediately, whether for online payments or
at stores that accept Apple Pay.
After Apple takes a few days creating your card, it’ll be sent via Fedex priority overnight,
so you should receive your physical card within 24 hours of being shipped.
Your Apple Card will arrive in this Fedex envelope which, once you open, contains Apple’s
own cardboard packaging to give the item some extra protection.
There’s a convenient pull tab to open this envelope, and then you’ll find this minimalist
white product packaging.
Simply lift the cover to reveal your very own titanium Apple Card.
As you can see it doesn’t feature much information, just my name, and that’s mainly for security
reasons.
But it’s also so you can generate a new card number without the need to activate an
entirely new physical card.
Now the Apple Card is made from metal and some of you guys wanted to hear what it sounded
like when thrown down, [sound] it’s actually quite loud so I recommend simply handing to
the cashier.
Now when it comes to activation, all you have to do is wake your phone and hold it near
the card’s packaging which contains an NFC chip that’ll trigger this activation window.
Similar to how you might connect a pair of AirPods.
Now if you lost or threw away the card’s packaging, Apple does offer an alternative
method of activation.
So I was able to use this card for about a week without any issues until something strange
happened.
Suddenly all of the transactions I tried making with both the virtual and physical Apple Card
were blocked.
This alert appeared notifying me that my account had been restricted and recommended that I
contact their support team, which I did.
This took me to the messages app where a new text conversation was started with presumably
someone from Apple, who then transferred me to an Apple Card Specialist at Goldman Sachs.
All of this was done through the messages app within the same conversation, and I have
to admit the experience was quite seamless and convenient.
But there was a problem.
An Apple Card Special was supposed to give me a call shortly after our text conversation,
but that call never came.
And it didn’t come anytime in the following three days either.
So I ended up messaging the Apple support number again just to see if there were any
updates on the issue.
But the strange thing was the new specialist receiving my messages wasn’t able to see
the previous correspondence I had three days prior, despite all the texts showing up in
the same thread on my end.
So the new Apple Card Specialist asked me for a case ID number from my previous conversation
with support.
But I’d never been received a number of any kind from my initial text conversion,
and so I had to explain everything over again to the new specialist.
Now the second time around things seemed to be going quite a bit better since I wasn’t
immediately directed to make a call.
But after a half-hour of researching, I was provided a phone number to contact Goldman
Sachs anyway.
I gave them a call, spent another 20 minutes with their support team, and was notified
that I was under investigation by Goldman Sachs to verify my identity.
They said I could mail them any documents that I think might help them with the investigation.
I asked if a copy of my birth certificate or social security card would be helpful,
but I was simply told, “whatever you think might help with the investigation.”
Now that conversation happened last week, and I’ve yet to hear back from Goldman Sachs.
So I’m not sure if I’ll be able to use the Apple Card again anytime soon, but I’ll
just share my experience from the first week of ownership.
I already mentioned how quick and easy it was to apply for the card and start using
it, but that’s only a taste of the card’s convenience.
It automatically appeared on my Apple Watch for use with Apple Pay, and I could easily
set it as my primary card.
That way, I’d always be earning 2% cash back on purchases through Apple Pay without
even thinking about it.
And that’s something I really love about the Apple Card, it really is a set it and
forget it credit card solution.
Your monthly bill can automatically pay itself, and your spending is automatically tracked
right from within the wallet app.
And this has been a huge time saver since I typically spend hours manually entering
all of my monthly debit card transactions in a spreadsheet.
If you have any technical issues like I did and you need to contact support, being able
to text a specialist who responds almost immediately is a huge convenience.
Also, if you lose your physical card, you can simply lock it until you find it again,
or until Apple sends you a new one to activate.
If your identity is stolen and someone knows your credit card number, all you have to do
is tap “Request New Card Number” without the need to order a new physical card.
So clearly the Apple Card’s biggest strength is its convenience and security features,
and I think those are what differentiates it from traditional credit cards.
But when it comes to its rewards program, the Apple Card is not as impressive.
You receive 3% cash back on purchases from Apple like a new iPhone, an app, or a movie
from iTunes.
As well as purchases from Uber and Ubereats.
Now Apple said they’d be adding more merchants to this 3% cash back tier in the near future,
so we’ll just have to wait and see who signs on.
There’s also 2% cash back on all purchases made with Apple Pay, and finally 1% cash back
on all purchases made with the physical Apple Card.
I should also mention that there’s no signing bonus.
So while the rewards program itself is average at best, it is quite convenient since you
don’t have to wait until the end of the month to receive your cash back.
The Apple Card features something called Daily Cash.
Which means your Apple Cash balance is credited with your cash back right when the transaction
goes through, and you can use that money on a purchase or transfer it to your bank immediately.
But what might be even better than the rewards program, is the fact that the Apple Card doesn’t
charge any fees.
There’s no late fees, no annual fees, no over-limit fees, and no international fees.
I should also mention that if you have the Apple Card and lose your iPhone, you’ll
have a hard time paying your bill.
Unless, of course, you’ve set up autopay in which case the bill will pay itself whether
your iPhone is lost or not.
Otherwise, you’ll have to call Goldman Sachs directly and pay your bill over the phone,
since there’s no way to pay online.
So if you’re someone who only uses credit cards for the rewards and convenience isn’t
very important, then the Apple Card probably isn’t for you.
But if you’re looking to replace your debit card with something that earns you a little
bit of cash back and offers incredible security and convenience features, then you’d probably
love having an Apple Card.
Something else you’d also love to have would be Ting.
A mobile service that actually makes sense.
Because they charge you based on how much data you use, instead of an arbitrary amount
every month.
When you call them for help or support, you talk to a real person at no extra cost.
There’s no holds, no transfers, and no robots.
And since you only pay for what you use, the average Ting bill is just $23 a month per
device.
Now if you’re stuck in a contract but would like to switch to Ting, they’ll actually
cover 25% of your cancellation fee, up to $75.
So head over to ae.ting.com, you can find that link in the description, and try out
their bill estimator.
Enter how many minutes, texts, and how much data you use on average based on your last
bill, and you can see how much you’d save with Ting.
Then, when you sign up with our link, you’ll receive a $25 credit toward your service bill
or a new device.
That link again is ae.ting.com.
Alright guys thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.