Apple and investment bank Goldman Sachs plan to launch a joint credit card later this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The report claims the card will be rolled out to Apple employees for internal testing in the next few weeks and officially launch later this year. The card would be accessible through the Wallet app on iPhone, potentially with unique features for setting spending goals, tracking rewards, and managing balances.
Executives have discussed borrowing visual cues from Apple's fitness-tracking app, where "rings" close as users hit daily exercise targets, and sending users notifications about their spending habits. There also could be notifications based on analysis of cardholders' spending patterns, alerting them for example if they paid more than usual for groceries one week.
The card will be issued by Goldman Sachs and use Mastercard's payment network, according to the report. The card is said to offer around two percent cashback on most purchases and potentially more on Apple products and services.
I have to wonder whether by 'spending goals' they mean 'spend at least £X,000 per month in credit' (preferably on Apple products and services) gotta close those rings o_O
All of this makes sense in the big picture if you recall the past to see where Apple is going in the future. Apple has a history of disrupting boring and/or broken markets that deliver services that people need but that they use only reluctantly because there are no alternatives.
Apple made the computer accessible and fun. It’s easy to forget but computers were for crunching numbers, mostly the realm of nerds who knew how to operate the command line. The Mac changed everything.
Apple disrupted music in the same way. The iPod came at a time when piracy was rampant. It was a terrible experience though. You’d download programs like Napster or Limewire and download music, not knowing if you’d get a bad recording and would end up with a junk pile of disorganized mislabelled music in folders. iPod + iTunes made it easy to pay a fair price for music and get a properly organized collection. That’s why it became so popular that nobody ever really caught up.
Apple is now pursuing two other sectors that absolutely need to be disrupted. Health and financial services. Both are full of bureaucracy and not consumer friendly. The only ones who do well in either are insiders or experts in those fields.
Apple is on one hand opening up health records to make our data our data, easily accessible and making it useful by helping us to be proactive and knowledgeable to improve our own health.
Now, on the other hand, most of us hate having to deal with banks, hidden fees and overly complicated services. Apple Pay has already made it easier and safer on the transaction side. Money management and growth is the next obvious step. I’m very interested to see what Apple does here.
Ah yes, you have to close rings by spending more money. Plus they can give you notifications - "Looks like you haven't spent enough money today, tap here to buy an iPad mini to hit your spending goal!"
Goldman Sach's has terrible optics - at least in the U.S. (they were actively playing both sides of the field knowingly helping to drive the U.S. housing market over the cliff and betting to profit off the crash, 5crew the country, that caused the financial crisis back in 2008 or so). When it comes to taking care of the customer or not doing something illegal - history has shown they actively choose the 3rd option which is do what makes the most money if they think they can get away with it (if that includes actively misguiding customers so be it).
Having Apple team with them is very disappointing - its almost like having Apple partner with the mob on a credit card - especially since Goldman is not a normal bank and doesn't normally do credit cards (that I know of). There must be something special in it for Goldman, for them to be doing this....I'd much rather have Apple stick with Barclay.
Sunday September 24, 2023 12:45 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple previously announced that macOS Sonoma will be released this Tuesday, September 26. The free software update includes many new features and changes for the Mac, including the five that we have highlighted below. In addition to these five features, we have shared the full release notes for macOS Sonoma below for a complete overview of everything new. Desktop Widgets macOS Sonoma...
Friday September 22, 2023 9:29 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Are you skipping the iPhone 15 Pro and waiting another year to upgrade? If so, we already have some iPhone 16 Pro rumors for you. Below, we recap new features rumored for the iPhone 16 Pro models so far:Larger displays: The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped with larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, according to Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain...
Monday September 25, 2023 12:50 pm PDT by Marko Zivkovic
The iPhone 16 series is expected to gain an additional capacitive button, known internally as the "Capture Button." Codenamed "Project Nova," the button is likely to be one of the main selling points of the iPhone 16 lineup, assuming it gets past the initial testing phase. The Capture Button is located on the same side as the Power button, only positioned slightly lower - where the mmWave cutout...
Monday September 25, 2023 3:16 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple could be preparing to release a seventh-generation iPad mini before the end of the year, based on a new report by DigiTimes. In an article discussing stagnating global tablet demand in the second half of 2023, the Taiwan-based outlet forecasts an uptick in Apple's share of the market owing to orders for a "small-size" iPad in the fourth quarter. From the report (see bold): In the...
Top Rated Comments
/walks away slowly shaking head in disappointment:(:oops:
Goldman Sachs is a literal hot garbage organization.
Apple made the computer accessible and fun. It’s easy to forget but computers were for crunching numbers, mostly the realm of nerds who knew how to operate the command line. The Mac changed everything.
Apple disrupted music in the same way. The iPod came at a time when piracy was rampant. It was a terrible experience though. You’d download programs like Napster or Limewire and download music, not knowing if you’d get a bad recording and would end up with a junk pile of disorganized mislabelled music in folders. iPod + iTunes made it easy to pay a fair price for music and get a properly organized collection. That’s why it became so popular that nobody ever really caught up.
Apple is now pursuing two other sectors that absolutely need to be disrupted. Health and financial services. Both are full of bureaucracy and not consumer friendly. The only ones who do well in either are insiders or experts in those fields.
Apple is on one hand opening up health records to make our data our data, easily accessible and making it useful by helping us to be proactive and knowledgeable to improve our own health.
Now, on the other hand, most of us hate having to deal with banks, hidden fees and overly complicated services. Apple Pay has already made it easier and safer on the transaction side. Money management and growth is the next obvious step. I’m very interested to see what Apple does here.
http://fortune.com/2016/04/11/goldman-sachs-doj-settlement/
Having Apple team with them is very disappointing - its almost like having Apple partner with the mob on a credit card - especially since Goldman is not a normal bank and doesn't normally do credit cards (that I know of). There must be something special in it for Goldman, for them to be doing this....I'd much rather have Apple stick with Barclay.