Apple has started to roll out the Apple Card today, the credit card it introduced back in March, to a few selected customers. If you signed up, you could check your email to see if you received an invite.
If you're still deciding whether to get the card or not, here are the important things you should know before applying using your iPhone.
First off, the Apple Card is a Mastercard, albeit the lack of the Mastercard logo on the card itself. It's designed for Apple Pay, but you won't get the physical card unless you request it. If you do, you'll get yourself a fancy titanium card, but you'll still see all info and transaction history on your iPhone. However, the rewards are doubled compared to using Apple Pay, and you get twice the rewards when you use Apple Pay compared with just the physical card.
The Apple Card doesn't have a 16-digit credit card number, but what's stored within the chip is the unique identifier for each transaction. This makes the card more secure since nobody can steal your card number, but it kind of makes things harder if you're ordering something online and you're used to typing your card info.
Another good thing about the Apple Card is the fact that you won't pay any fees for it. The fine print says the card has no foreign exchange fees, annual fees, and late fees. Apple will also not charge you if you go over your limit or need a refund for a returned order.
The Apple Card also offers cash rewards, which is quite a surprising news. For example, if you travel a lot and use your Apple Card, you don't get points as other regular cards do. Instead, Apple will offer you "daily cash." Each day, Apple will load up to 3% of purchases into your Apple Pay cash balance. You can then use it for different kinds of purchases or use it to pay your Apple Cad bill. Daily Cash can also be sent via Messages, and you can also deposit to your own bank account.
Word is that Apple is planning to introduce an iPad app since you won't find a native Wallet feature on that device. The company has laid out what the card can do, but it sure looks like there will be more features added soon. We'll just have to see how the experience of the Apple Card matches up with the high expectations of Apple customers.
