Apple Card is switching to Chase, and I have a lot of questions

After a tumultuous relationship with Goldman Sachs, Apple reached a deal with JPMorgan Chase to take over Apple Card.

I have a lot of questions about what this means for Apple Card. I’ve laid some of them out below so we can speculate together…

What changes?

Apple Card could undergo major changes as part of its switch to Chase. After all, Goldman Sachs lost billions of dollars operating the card. The WSJ previously reported that Apple could have to change “key components” of the Apple Card to lure a new partner.

Apple Card has no fees other than interest. It gives you 3% cash back on Apple purchases and 2% cash back on all Apple Pay purchases. You also get interest-free financing on all purchases from Apple. For a no-fee card, this is a solid set of benefits.

Will Chase nerf Apple Card? There’s a real chance the current version just isn’t financially viable. Chase, of course, is much better at running a credit card business than Goldman Sachs, so maybe that will help.

Apple published a frequently-asked-questions page on its website detailing the Apple Card transition to Chase.

The page says that “users will continue to earn up to 3 percent unlimited Daily Cash back on every purchase” and “users can continue to purchase Apple products with Apple Card Monthly Installments.”

However, this information applies “during the transition period” and Apple says “additional details” will be shared in the future. Does that mean those terms and benefits could change?

Cash back or points?

One of the tentpoles of Apple Card is that it’s purely a cash back card. You don’t have to worry about points or miles or anything of the sort.

Chase offers cash back cards, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited. However, it also has the lucrative Chase Ultimate Rewards points system. You can redeem Chase points as cash, transfer them to travel partners, and more. It’s one of the most flexible ecosystems in the industry.

With a Chase-backed version of the Apple Card, will I be able to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points? Will I be able to choose between cash and points?

For example, the Chase Freedom Unlimited earns points that are redeemable for cash. However, if you have it and a Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards points (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred), those points can also be transferred out to travel partners.

How will the Chase-backed version of Apple Card integrate with that ecosystem? I hope it remains a cash back-first card, but I’d love an option to tie things into the my Chase ecosystem too.

Apple Card Savings Account

The Wall Street Journal reports that Chase is “planning to launch a new Apple savings account” as part of this arrangement. “Consumers with existing Apple savings accounts at Goldman will decide whether they want to stay there or open an account with JPMorgan,” the report says.

The existing Apple Card Savings Account is a high-yield savings account that currently offers 3.65% interest.

For existing customers, it’s good that Chase and Apple will reportedly allow them to stay with Goldman. For new customers, the jury is still out on what the right choice will be.

Chase, like almost all of the big banks in the United States, does not offer a high-yield savings account and has little incentive to do so. I’d be shocked if its new “Apple savings account” is actually competitive in the HYSA space.

If Chase does drop the Apple Card Savings Account appeal for new users, Goldman Sachs separately offers its own Marcus savings account and you can earn a bonus rate with this link for a limited time.

Room for improvement

The Goldman Sachs-backed version of Apple Card has been rife with problems. There are issues with dispute resolutions, outages, poor customer service, and more. A quick skim of the Apple Card subreddit shows how common these problems are.

It’s clear Goldman Sachs, which was brand new to the consumer credit card industry when it launched Apple Card, wasn’t prepared to handle the amount of customer support needed.

Chase, of course, is a veteran in this space. This should mean that Apple Card customer support — particularly around disputes — is about to get a lot better.

Currently, Apple Card is unique as everyone’s statement date and payment due date is the last day of the month. This is an incredibly rare in the credit card industry. Most companies spread statement and payment dates out throughout the whole month.

In fact, all Apple Card holders having the same due date is one of the reasons behind Goldman Sachs’s customer support problems.

Most banks also allow cardholders to request a new due date that better aligns with their paychecks. Apple Card has never offered this option.

Will all of this change?

Apple Cash

Apple Cash, which is basically Apple’s version of Venmo, is currently backed by Green Dot Bank. It’d make a lot of sense if Chase were to also take over Apple Cash as part of this transition.

After all, one of the options is to have Apple Card cash back immediately deposited into your Apple Cash account. I don’t see why Chase would want those rewards deposited into an account operated by another bank.

Green Dot Bank also has more than its fair share of fraud and customer support problems.

Wrap up

What do you think about the news Apple Card is moving to Chase? Are you excited, concerned, or indifferent? Let us know down in the comments.

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