Apple Card for iPhone announced alongside physical titanium credit card

Apple at **‘It’s Show Time’ special event** held at the Steve Jobs Theatre, San Francisco announced its very own credit card called Apple Card that will be available to customers in summer. Apple claims that Apple Card, unlike most physical credit cards, is a lot more secure because it’s virtual and resides in your iPhone. The virtual credit card is built right into the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and will offer a shopping experience via Apple Pay with a focus on privacy and security. The Apple card system was designed in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard to ensure that it works seamlessly across the globe. [caption id=“attachment_6325541” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, speaks during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino. Image: Reuters[/caption]

Apple Card

“Apple Card is designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life, which starts with a better understanding of their spending so they can make smarter choices with their money, transparency to help them understand how much it will cost if they want to pay over time and ways to help them pay down their balance.” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay. The card has been designed for use with the iPhone. Customers can directly sign up for Apple Card using the Wallet app (after a software update) and start using it with Apple Pay in stores, in apps or online on the web.

Apple has given the credit card a human touch by using the power of machine learning to label transactions, merchant names and locations, making bills easier to understand. The simplified interface gives customers real-time views of the transactions including some detailed weekly and monthly spending summaries. Support for Apple Card has been simplified as well and users can connect with customer support by simply sending texts from the Messages app.

Daily Cash

Daily Cash is basically a cash back rewards program to help promote spending using Apple Card. Customers basically receive a percentage of every Apple Card purchase amount and this varies depending on whether it’s spent on an Apple service or elsewhere (online, in a store etc.). Every time customers use Apple Card with Apple Pay, they will receive 2 percent Daily Cash. Customers will also get 3 percent Daily Cash on all purchases made directly with Apple, including at Apple Stores, on the App Store and for Apple services. [caption id=“attachment_6325531” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Apple Card on iPhone. Image: Apple[/caption]

The promise of lower interest

Apple has promised that users of Apple Card will not have to pay any fees (annual, late, international, over-the-limit) and that it will aim to provide the lowest interest rate possible. Apple Card will even show a range of payment options to customers right inside the iPhone and will calculate the different payment amounts in real time.

A focus on privacy and security

While privacy and security have now become the main theme of every Apple announcement, it made more sense with its credit card than with any other product. Apple claims that its unique card number is created on the iPhone and is stored safely in the device’s Secure Element, a security chip used by Apple Pay. Apple also claims that all purchases are secure as they are authorised by Face ID or Touch ID and come with a one-time dynamic security code. Thanks to the above features Apple will never know where a customer shopped, what they purchased or how much they paid.

Titanium Credit Card

And after ranting about physical credit cards, Apple announced its very own titanium Apple Card that can be used for shopping where Apple Pay is not available. The sleek laser-etched card comes with just the Apple logo and a name. There is no card number, CVV security code, expiration date, signature on the card.