Apple does have a foot in the water in the European side of the Atlantic:
I’ll bet there will be more to come.
Thanks. I don’t know but I do know I don’t want to bother with that. Hence I use the card very little.
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This isn’t an example of Apple getting involved with banking.
Apple Pay is a mechanism used to connect your phone to the bank issuing your credit card. All transactions are between the merchant and your bank. Apple is only involved during the registration process you go through when adding a new card.
This is very different from Apple Cash (which is a Paypal-like money-transfer service) and the Apple Card (which is an Apple-branded credit card currently being managed by Goldman Sachs).
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Thank you, @jcenters, for not using (apart from direct quote, in actual quotes) the term “high-yield” like pretty much every other article I read on the topic.
All the folks regurgitating this high-yield nonsense for what is essentially a 2% interest rate savings account have made themselves free mouthpieces for a failing savings bank industry. High yield for 2% is laughable. It’s perhaps high compared to the 0% you get on a checking account. But it’s ridiculously low compared to pretty much every meaningful way to save money. Nobody will fault the banks for hyping their product. But for anybody else to do it for them is just embarassing. Thanks for not being part of that.
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Yeah, I guess it’s “high yield” compared to most savings accounts these days, but with mortgage rates approaching 8%, it feels like we’re getting the short end of the stick.
Some banks are paying interest on checking accounts now. Mine (PNC) does. It’s a pathetic fraction of the already minuscule rate on savings, but it is technically above 0%. I get about a penny a month on average.
Personally, I’m not upset by the “high yield” branding because it is just that, branding. And both business and non-business journalists have a lot bigger problems with how they write and fact check articles than reusing press release talking points IMHO. The infuencer industry is even worse.
That’s always been the business model for banks and other lenders to consumers. Bring in money as cheaply as possible (e.g. savings accounts, sell bonds) and lend it as expensively or risk free as possible (e.g. federally insured mortgages, credit cards). The scary thing now is if the US is heading towards persistent interest and inflation rates similar to the late 1970s and early 80s. How does a 17% 30-year mortgage sound? Yikes.
“Consumer front end to Goldman Sachs” describes the situation best. This creates a conundrum for Apple. Apple expresses an interest in sustainability, e.g. using low-carbon power and recycled materials. On the other hand, Goldman continues to provide lots of funding for fossil-fuel projects. Apple has not expressed that it is aware of this conflict.
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Unfortunately, every card issuer that has the scale and, most importantly, access to the amount of capital required to work with millions and millions of Apple Card holders has some relationship with companies engaged in fossil-fuel projects. So if Apple does not want to launch and fund a wholly owned banking divsion (as discussed earlier), it doesn’t really have any way to make Apple Card “100% Sustainable” or “100% Green”.