CUPERTINO, Calif.–Apple has begun a new “preview rollout” of its Apple Card, which it is issuing in conjunction with Goldman Sachs.
Plans call for the card to then become broadly available to all iPhone owners in the U.S. later this month.
According to Apple, a random selection of people who signed up to be notified about the Apple Card have now been invited to sign up, although the company has not disclosed exactly how many people will be in the preview group. The signup process, which requires iOS 12.4, involves entering an address, birthday, income level, and last four digits of a Social Security number. That information is sent to Goldman Sachs, which will approve or decline a person’s application in real time — Apple says it should take less than a minute, with TransUnion conducting the credit check.
Apple said the goal is to be broadly accessible to every iPhone owner, so the signup requirements will not be as strict as on some other cards.
Immediate Access
For cardholders who are approved, the card then shows up in their Apple Wallet immediately and is available for use. Consumers have the option of requesting Apple’s attention-getting titanium card for free during setup; it will arrive in the mail later. Apple has made applying for the card easy: consumers just tap on an envelope on the screen that has an NFC tag.
As CUToday.info has reported, the Apple Card includes a rewards program that pays 3% cash back on any Apple transaction from the Apple Store to the App Store to even iCloud storage, 2% on any Apple Pay transactions, and 1% back on purchases made with the physical card or virtual card number. One appealing factor to many consumers will be the cash-back Apple Pay Cash account, which can be used to put toward a balance, or be sent to friends, or be transferred to another account.
Money Management Tools
The card includes a number of other money-management tools, many of which can be found on other cards, as well. Goldman Sachs is handling any consumer inquiries.
The APR on the card runs from 12.99% to 24.24%.
What analysts are forecasting for the Apple Card can be found in an earlier CUToday.info story here.