Apple and Goldman Sachs may be working together to launch a new credit card aimed specifically at iPhone users, the Wall Street Journal reports. The cards could be available as soon as this year, and they differ from regular cards in a couple of ways.
These cards are designed to work with the Wallet app on Apple devices, and they enable extra features that you don"t get with regular credit cards. For example, you"ll be able to set spending goals, manage your balances, and see your rewards. Some aspects of the interface here will be similar to that of the Health app, in the sense that you"ll get "rings" to help you track your spending goals and keep yourself in check.
What"s more, it looks like users will get a cashback of around 2% on the majority of purchases, but that could go higher if you spend a lot of money on Apple products and services. At the same time, Apple could get a bigger cut of payments made using these cards, which could help it increase its revenue as iPhone sales have been disappointing.
According to the report, these cards will go into testing with Apple employees over the coming weeks, and the banking agency is already preparing a support infrastructure for the new cards. These include new call centers for customer support and a new payment system. A full launch is expected later this year.
This isn"t the first time that the partnership has been brought up, and plans for jointly developed cards have been up in the air since last year. If this project goes well, the two companies may take their partnership further. The Goldman Sachs-owned Marcus bank could offer loans and other services to Apple customers in the future.
Source: WSJ