Last week, the Apple Card was announced to the world. It is a credit card backed by Goldman Sachs and MasterCard and promises among other things the following:
- High levels of security
- The best interest rates
- No fees of any sort
- Total transparency
- Instant approval
- Cash back of up to 3%
- Integration with iOS and Apple Wallet to track spending, and to get help
- You get a physical card and one in Apple Wallet
You can delve into this deeper via the link above. But as I’ve thought about this since the card was announced, one thing has become clear to me. Apple isn’t entering the credit card business. Though I will admit that if they deliver on the above features, other card issuers will likely have to match this feature set. What Apple is doing is paving the way to sell more iPhones via a Trojan horse called the Apple Card. How do I come to that conclusion you ask? Well, to apply for the card, use all the features, and get a better cash back reward (1% if you use the physical card that Apple will give you versus 2% when using your iPhone), you need an iPhone. And there’s no joint accounts either. Which means that if your spouse wants an Apple Card, they’ll need to get an account of their own. Which means that there’s an iPhone is in their future.
The scary thing is, I believe it’s working. I know die hard Android fans who have made fun of me for years for owning an iPhone who are now considering getting an iPhone simply because of the Apple Card and the features that it offers. Is it a huge number? That’s hard for me to judge. But seeing as Apple last quarter had iPhone sales fall off a cliff, any defections from “Team Android” would be welcome. Which is why the Apple Card is the perfect Trojan horse that I have ever seen and you have to give Apple kudos for coming up with a great way to bump up flagging iPhone sales.