Will Apple Card Deepen Apple Pay's Reach?

Here we’ve taken the briefest of tours of its features to bring them to the forefront of the mind of any retailer wanting to be sure they are embracing technology that can aid consumers in their purchasing both online and in-store.

Building on Apple Pay

Apple Pay is something that most retailers are familiar with now, or certainly should be. A staggering stat shared yesterday boasted of 10 billion Apple Pay transactions in 2019…and we’re only just getting to April. In a nutshell, Apple Pay enables a payment method to be linked to a compatible iOS device for contactless and web payments using Touch ID or Face ID as authentication.

Ease and Security

Apple Card is billed as a new service that “builds on the incredible ease and security that millions of people love about Apple Pay”, which seems a sensible direction to go in. The ease is fairly self-explanatory (and if not, check out the article linked above); the security builds on the two-factor authentication, which has already opened up mobile payments above the £30 limit in the UK, and the unique device and transaction codes.

Titanium for Backup

The card details are not even shown on the physical card that you are provided with as a back-up. All of the data is in the Wallet app on the iPhone. The card itself is a back-up for stores that don’t, yet (note the confidence of that word), accept Apple Pay. As well as the extra security afforded by the minimalist design you also get the sleek appearance, that Apple are renowned for, to add to the appeal. This time in laser-etched titanium, naturally.

Cashback Reward

In order to encourage use of the card through Apple Pay, a rewards scheme allows cardholders to earn Daily Cash. At the level of 3% for Apple purchases, 2% for other merchants paid via Apple Pay and 1% for other purchases made with the physical card, Apple reward spending with cash onto an Apple Cash card. This can be redeemed as cash — no collecting points and complicated conversions or redemptions.

Keep an eye on spending

No fees (though rates and eligibility are yet to be clarified) and a clear view of spending also add to the ease being designed-in to this card. As well as showing you exactly what interest you are accruing and how this would change based on what payments you make at any given time, Apple say they want to encourage you not to accrue interest. There is also a handy feature that builds in the ability to see exactly where a transaction was made by pinpointing it in maps.

Time to Embrace Apple Pay?

There are, of course, more Android than iOS users worldwide, but that doesn’t mean that you can afford to ignore this bold step by Apple. The partnership itself with Goldman Sachs, who have never before issued a consumer credit card, speaks of the intent of this card.

Even in the relatively short time that Apple Pay has been available, it’s easy to take this option for granted if you are an Apple device user and the lack of this option can seem like friction in the purchasing process. The introduction of Apple Card means that the expectations around the availability of Apple Pay are only likely to increase and so now really is the time to be sure that you are on board if it could ease the journey to conversion for your customers.

Apple are confident. Are you?