On 11/30/2023 2:06 AM, Chris in Makati wrote:
<snip>
What happened to Apple's grand plans to expand the Apple Card to other countries?
Over four years after launching, it's still only available in the USA.
With Goldman Sachs not happy with the arrangement with Apple the whole project doesn't look like it's been that successful.
The Apple Card didn't appeal to high-value consumers because the
benefits were pretty lousy compared to other U.S. credit cards. They
handed them out to people with poor or no credit so losses were high.
Those that did obtain an Apple Card Mastercard often used them only for
0% financing purchases from Apple and used a card with better benefits
for other purchases. Since you couldn't use the Apple Card at Costco
(which only takes Visa in the U.S.) most people used a different card
for their mobile wallet on their phone. I.e. I use a card with 3% back
on mobile wallet purchases at Costco, and I go to Costco a lot.
Goldman Sachs/Apple could not get many merchants to subsidize an extra
1% cash back so the number of businesses that gave 3% back was very
limited (and I know that one franchise business that was really upset
about having to give up another 1% and stopped taking all mobile wallet payments for a while).
Goldman Sachs/Apple recently they dropped one of the biggest benefits of
the Apple Card, 24 month interest-free financing on unlocked iPhones,
now requiring that they be activated at time of purchase with a postpaid carrier (i.e. AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon). Not sure if it was Apple or
Goldman Sachs that was subsidizing that 0% financing.
If I were choosing a no annual fee credit card to use for a phone
purchase, and for service, I'd choose the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card.
$200 introductory bonus after $500 spending in three months, 2% cash
back, 15 month interest-free financing, and cell phone protection
(eliminating the need for AppleCare+).
It'll be interesting to see what bank, if any, takes over the Apple
Card, and what the benefits will be. They'll be extremely careful given
the losses that Goldman Sachs incurred. Hopefully any replacement will
be a Visa card.
Did the Apple Card actually result in many more sales of Apple products?
If so, then Apple would be happy to subsidize any losses incurred by the
bank that issues the Apple Card.
--
“If you are not an expert on a subject, then your opinions about it
really do matter less than the opinions of experts. It's not
indoctrination nor elitism. It's just that you don't know as much as
they do about the subject.”—Tin Foil Awards
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