3 ms·

> Its rewards program is pretty mediocre, and virtually every Visa/MC/Amex supports Apple Pay seamlessly as is. Three use cases: card swipes, tap to pay, and A

> Its rewards program is pretty mediocre, and virtually every Visa/MC/Amex supports Apple Pay seamlessly as is. Three use cases: card swipes, tap to pay, and Apple purchases. For card swipe, 1 percent is meh. For tap to pay, 2 percent cashback is about as good as it gets without messing with annual fees. The daily cash back is a mild improvement over other, comparable plans like '1 percent when you're billed, 1 percent when you pay that bill.' For Apple specific purchases, this replaces the Barclay's branded card, and the cash back plan is largely an improvement over the '$25 Apple giftcard' seen previously. Beyond that, the card is advertised as 'no fees.' Not even for cash advances, late or missed payments. So how do they solve the no-cash-advance fee problem? Can't have cash advance fees if you don't offer cash advances. Hence the rules outlined in the article about cash equivalents.

arcticbull 7y ago
> 2 percent cashback is about as good as it gets without messing with annual fees. Citi Double Cash is 2% flat cash back with no annual fee, and BoA has a 2.67% cash back card if you have 100K in assets with them. Cash advances and late or missed payments fees are rare if you keep on top of things, but the spread on cash back hits your wallet every time you use it.
- LateRuin 7y ago
  I have that 2.67% BAC Platinum Honors card, a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, and a Barclays Uber card (4% cash back at restaurants) I plan to cancel them all when the Apple card comes out. Why? I hate the idea of banks, they should not exist in our digital world. A single US Treasury app on our phone could handle all payments and store our digital cash. Even though Apple card is through Goldman, its a pragmatic first step in eliminating these useless (retail) banks. At least thats my hope.
- astura 7y ago
  Other 2% cards without annual fees include PayPal MasterCard and Fidelity Visa..
  - arcticbull 7y ago
    Good call outs. There's a couple out there.
- jldugger 7y ago
  > Citi Double Cash is 2% flat cash back with no annual fee Citi Double Cash is 1 percent when you swipe, and 1 percent when you pay it off. It's 2 percent, but the delay is like 1-2 months on the second half. As for BoA's assets under management deal, I largely view that as a hidden annual fee. They'll get their pound of flesh somehow. If these cards are all largely comparable, is it worth switching? For rewards optimizers and churners, likely not. But it's also definitely not worth switching to Double Cash if already have the Apple card and tap to pay regularly, and that's likely what AAPL/GS are banking on. Walk into an Apple store, buy a thousand dollar iPhone on credit, and the sales Genius helps you set up tap to pay with that new card right there. And daily credit is a double edged sword. 30 bucks a month or whatever you might just apply to the balance, but with a daily trickle it's likely some folks will just dump it into iTunes / the App Store. It's certainly a way to reduce the friction of spending on Apple services. Plus, someone is free to profit from the float of all that cash back money sitting idle. Could be Goldman, could be Apple, could be Green Dot Bank.
  - arcticbull 7y ago
    > But it's also definitely not worth switching to Double Cash if already have the Apple card and tap to pay regularly, and that's likely what AAPL/GS are banking on. Walk into an Apple store, buy a thousand dollar iPhone on credit, and the sales Genius helps you set up tap to pay with that new card right there. The argument being made isn't switch from the Apple Card, it's switch to and strictly speaking 2% all the time is better than 2% some of the time, all else being equal, and it pretty much is. Sure, you buy at the Apple Store and you get 2%, though I think less than half the places I regularly shop at, including 100% of the places I buy things online (like Amazon) offer contactless payments. People find delayed reward motivating, and having the credit trickle in over time instead of daily is actually going to get you to engage with the card more as you redeem the rewards for things of higher perceived value. While what you're saying sounds right on face, human psychology says otherwise :) The 2.67% back is 40% more cash back, so yeah, transfer 100K worth of assets to a BAML account that you're holding for the long term (and I believe IRAs count), and enjoy. It's a better product.
    - 7y ago
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

arcticbull 7y ago

> 2 percent cashback is about as good as it gets without messing with annual fees. Citi Double Cash is 2% flat cash back with no annual fee, and BoA has a 2.67% cash back card if you have 100K in assets with them. Cash advances and late or missed payments fees are rare if you keep on top of things, but the spread on cash back hits your wallet every time you use it.

LateRuin 7y ago
I have that 2.67% BAC Platinum Honors card, a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, and a Barclays Uber card (4% cash back at restaurants) I plan to cancel them all when the Apple card comes out. Why? I hate the idea of banks, they should not exist in our digital world. A single US Treasury app on our phone could handle all payments and store our digital cash. Even though Apple card is through Goldman, its a pragmatic first step in eliminating these useless (retail) banks. At least thats my hope.
astura 7y ago
Other 2% cards without annual fees include PayPal MasterCard and Fidelity Visa..
- arcticbull 7y ago
  Good call outs. There's a couple out there.
jldugger 7y ago
> Citi Double Cash is 2% flat cash back with no annual fee Citi Double Cash is 1 percent when you swipe, and 1 percent when you pay it off. It's 2 percent, but the delay is like 1-2 months on the second half. As for BoA's assets under management deal, I largely view that as a hidden annual fee. They'll get their pound of flesh somehow. If these cards are all largely comparable, is it worth switching? For rewards optimizers and churners, likely not. But it's also definitely not worth switching to Double Cash if already have the Apple card and tap to pay regularly, and that's likely what AAPL/GS are banking on. Walk into an Apple store, buy a thousand dollar iPhone on credit, and the sales Genius helps you set up tap to pay with that new card right there. And daily credit is a double edged sword. 30 bucks a month or whatever you might just apply to the balance, but with a daily trickle it's likely some folks will just dump it into iTunes / the App Store. It's certainly a way to reduce the friction of spending on Apple services. Plus, someone is free to profit from the float of all that cash back money sitting idle. Could be Goldman, could be Apple, could be Green Dot Bank.
- arcticbull 7y ago
  > But it's also definitely not worth switching to Double Cash if already have the Apple card and tap to pay regularly, and that's likely what AAPL/GS are banking on. Walk into an Apple store, buy a thousand dollar iPhone on credit, and the sales Genius helps you set up tap to pay with that new card right there. The argument being made isn't switch from the Apple Card, it's switch to and strictly speaking 2% all the time is better than 2% some of the time, all else being equal, and it pretty much is. Sure, you buy at the Apple Store and you get 2%, though I think less than half the places I regularly shop at, including 100% of the places I buy things online (like Amazon) offer contactless payments. People find delayed reward motivating, and having the credit trickle in over time instead of daily is actually going to get you to engage with the card more as you redeem the rewards for things of higher perceived value. While what you're saying sounds right on face, human psychology says otherwise :) The 2.67% back is 40% more cash back, so yeah, transfer 100K worth of assets to a BAML account that you're holding for the long term (and I believe IRAs count), and enjoy. It's a better product.
  - 7y ago

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]