The Apple Card Experience
Originally Posted: September 2nd, 2019
Apple Card Review
The first time I tried to use my Apple Card via Apple Pay, it didn't work. The aptly named POS system was having issues, requiring the traditional swipe-or-insert dance with a physical card. The American payment system is a mess.
Small issues like this are why Apple Pay has not become my default, but I have had better luck since. When it's available and working I've come to appreciate the simplicity and speed of Apple Pay. Double tap the side button, present your face or fingerprint, done. It makes swiping a card or inserting a chip seem old fashioned. I, for one, welcome our new contact-less payment overlords.
Apple Card Software
If you already use Apple Pay, Apple Card behaves like any other card. Where it differs is in software, the Wallet app on your iPhone. That is where you sign up for it, manage it, view your spending and pay your bill. The credit card part of the app is a nice 1.0, but it feels like a 1.0. There are obvious things missing - being able to customize your spending categories, exporting data and integrating with other financial apps, no shared or joint accounts, and no website to manage the card. If you lose your iPhone you need another Apple device to pay your bill, which is a decidedly not great solution. There is no Wallet app on the Mac or iPad, but you can view the card details and make payments from those devices. Right now you need to be firmly within the Apple ecosystem to fully enjoy the card, but that's probably the point. What features are there make it feel like a good start. Apple will continue to improve the software and the ecosystem around the card, and hopefully they will fix those most obvious shortcomings.
One unique part of the card is how it handles it’s identifying numbers. There are no numbers on the card itself. Each physical card has a virtual 16 digit card number which can be regenerated at any time. Rather than waiting for a new card in the mail, you can go into the Wallet app and generate a new number whenever. The number, expiration and CCV code can be filled in with autofill in a browser. If you ever need to view the numbers, they are in the wallet app. There is no Wallet app on the iPad, so that information lives within settings. On a Mac, it’s in system preferences. If reading this gives you a headache or if you ever need help, you can contact support via iMessage. I've used that a few times and every time I'm glad I'm not on hold listening to distorted smooth jazz.
Physical Card
Activating the physical card is easy. A hidden NFC tag in the packaging brings up a dialog and lets you activate the card, similar to how you pair AirPods. The side the magstripe is on is flipped, to the bottom of the card. Notice how the chip has 6 identical rounded ovals, not the usual pattern. There is no card number, CCV code, expiration date, signature, phone numbers or any small text. It's about as simple as it can be, but the bottom facing magnetic stripe has already caused two cashiers to not know which way to swipe the card.
We have to talk about maintenance. Yes, maintenance for a credit card. I find this Apple support page hilarious, which says leather and denim might cause permanent discoloration. Because no one ever puts credit cards in their leather wallets or their jean pockets. The good news is you can request a new card for free at anytime, and it's a stinking credit card, so who cares?
Not a Revolution
Overall, the Apple Card is a novel and fancy credit card for Apple super fans. It doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but it’s a nice card with some nice features. Apple is clearly focused on creating new services, as growth in hardware shipments has stalled out. The Apple Card is Apple's attempt at getting further into finance. When you become as big of a company as they are, you enviably become a bank.
