A new report from TechCrunch‘s Matthew Panzarino sheds a bit more light on some of the finer details of Apple’s upcoming credit card, giving a bit more insight on how the card will work.
For one, the Apple Card will not support multiple users or shared cards, as the card is designed, at least at launch, to be used by only one person.
The Apple Card also come without any fees or penalties, including penalties for failing to pay a balance on time. While Apple won’t charge a user a fee for paying late, such action, however, will negatively affect a user’s credit score.
Apple will also offer “lower rates” — specifically variable APRs ranging from 13.24 to 24.24 percent — based on credit history, but it hasn’t specified how customers would fall into the rate spectrum. According to the report, Apple will likely put users at the low end of their respective rate tier.
“While Apple Card’s interest rates fail to break the mould in any major way (they are roughly between 13-24%), Apple will place users who sign up at the lower end of the tier that they land in due to their credit score,” reads the report. “This isn’t some incredible re-imagining of how to offer credit or an intensely low-interest option, but it could shift you to the bottom of a tier when you qualify instead of paying a few points higher at your ‘exact’ score.”
The physical card itself comes at no cost to the user, even though it’s made of super-fancy laser-etched titanium. Apple won’t charge users for the card itself and there isn’t a penalty fee if the card needs to be replaced. Additionally, the card comes with an in-app freeze option if a user happens to lose or misplace the card.
As far as fees go, the Apple Card doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees but exchange rates are determined by MasterCard.
Additionally, Apple Card owners will enjoy a number of security benefits, including a lack of details on the physical card — no one can steal the numbers without accessing the Wallet app. Apple Card will support generating virtual card numbers for use with online purchases outside of Apple Pay. The card will have a primary account number that persists for whatever duration the user likes, according to the report, but they have the option to regenerate those details on demand.
Finally, users will be able to pay their balance either from Apple Cash or from a bank account. Apple basically already confirmed this, because the Daily Cash that owners earn is put back into Apple Cash, which can then be put towards the balance owed.
Apple and Goldman Sachs will begin to offer Apple Card this summer. Apple says that signups will be handled directly from iPhones, with quick approvals and access to device-specific card numbers.
