Received invitation today...

flhrci

Final Approach
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Jan 26, 2007
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Display name:
David
For THE Apple Card! I feel so, not interested. LOL How about ya'll?

David
 
I think they realize they have nothing new in the technological pipeline to provide, so it's on to music subscriptions, news subscriptions, and credit cards.
 
All I know is high interest rate. I quit reading after that a long time ago. Yesterday I read that if you lose your iPhone, there is no way to make a payment. How stupid.
Yea that sounds like a great idea...
 
Apple wants all your money ,not just some. Apple doesn’t like to share.
 
I think they realize they have nothing new in the technological pipeline to provide, so it's on to music subscriptions, news subscriptions, and credit cards.

Haven’t had anything in the pipeline since Cook took over. Amazed investors and customers haven’t figured it out yet.
 
All I know is high interest rate. I quit reading after that a long time ago. Yesterday I read that if you lose your iPhone, there is no way to make a payment. How stupid.
I haven’t the faintest idea what the interest rate is on any of my credit cards. Couldn’t care less; we haven’t carried a balance in many years. The ONLY thing I care about now is perks. Cash back is king, period.
 
What are the perks?

you spend money on it, you get apple gift cards. The exchange rate isn't that good, but there's no annual fee. You shouldn't care about the finance rate because everything should get paid off every month.

There are better cards. I have one because of buying things at the Apple store and getting free financing via the card. Otherwise, we don't use it.
 
There are better cards. I have one because of buying things at the Apple store and getting free financing via the card. Otherwise, we don't use it.

Those better cards paid off every month that are just as free, don’t work at the Apple store anymore?
 
you spend money on it, you get apple gift cards. The exchange rate isn't that good, but there's no annual fee. You shouldn't care about the finance rate because everything should get paid off every month.

There are better cards. I have one because of buying things at the Apple store and getting free financing via the card. Otherwise, we don't use it.

How can you write "the finance rate doesn't matter...I have this card because of free financing" in the sane post?
 
Those better cards paid off every month that are just as free, don’t work at the Apple store anymore?

No, but if I get free financing on $3000 for a new computer, I can pay it off over 3 months. I could pay it off in one month too, but I'd have to pull from savings.
 
No, but if I get free financing on $3000 for a new computer, I can pay it off over 3 months. I could pay it off in one month too, but I'd have to pull from savings.

That’s what I’m saying though, any card will allow that. I guess you’re saying it’s 0% for three months? Thought it was “paid off every month”?
 
The card is Apple's way of trying to get people to use ApplePay for everything - the 2% cash back is competitive with other cards, but you only get it when using the card in conjunction with ApplePay. It's a push to get folks used to making all transactions from their phone or wearables.
 
That’s what I’m saying though, any card will allow that. I guess you’re saying it’s 0% for three months? Thought it was “paid off every month”?

Many "store" cards have long term financing arrange through them. Often it's 0%. This is separate from the normal revolving credit. For example, you may have a Macy's AmEx card and buy a mattress at Macy's at 0% financing for 9 months. This is going to be on your Macy's card. The mattress part will not be charged any interest(for 9 months), but if you then buy some other thing and only pay minimum on that that purchase, the balance of that purchase will be subject to 20+% annual rate.

This is what he is explaining.
 
Many "store" cards have long term financing arrange through them. Often it's 0%. This is separate from the normal revolving credit. For example, you may have a Macy's AmEx card and buy a mattress at Macy's at 0% financing for 9 months. This is going to be on your Macy's card. The mattress part will not be charged any interest(for 9 months), but if you then buy some other thing and only pay minimum on that that purchase, the balance of that purchase will be subject to 20+% annual rate.

This is what he is explaining.

Understand, but they said they were “paying them off every month”. Every card is 0% financing when paid off this month. :)
 
Understand, but they said they were “paying them off every month”. Every card is 0% financing when paid off this month. :)

Yes, but with Apple card, he can buy $3000 Apple computer and pay it in 3 months with no interest. You cannot do that with Chase card
 
This is just a feature of "brand" card and associated special financing through them. Not exclusive to Apple card, but useful if you buy expensive Apple products
 
That’s what I’m saying though, any card will allow that. I guess you’re saying it’s 0% for three months? Thought it was “paid off every month”?

The free financing allowed me flexibility in payment. It was actually for 18 months, I just choose to pay it off earlier. I don't like having debt but I dislike having a 10 year old computer more. Otherwise, yes, the cards (business and home) get paid off every month and I don't care what the interest rate is.
 
It'd bother me more if it had an annual fee, but since it's free there's not a lot of downside if you're in the Apple ecosystem anyway. 2% cash back if you use Apple Pay, and 3% when you buy Apple stuff. It's not for me, but I can see where people would want it. And the physical titanium card will play well with kids that are into that sort of thing but don't have the means for a Platinum Amex.
 
The free financing allowed me flexibility in payment. It was actually for 18 months, I just choose to pay it off earlier. I don't like having debt but I dislike having a 10 year old computer more. Otherwise, yes, the cards (business and home) get paid off every month and I don't care what the interest rate is.

This is what I was getting at. You’re basically saying it’s Apple’s gimmick to get someone who normally manages to save up for everything just fine, to carry debt.
 
This is what I was getting at. You’re basically saying it’s Apple’s gimmick to get someone who normally manages to save up for everything just fine, to carry debt.

Yeah, Ok. I do save, that doesn't mean I want to spend that savings. It's better to let someone else hold the debt for a little while than me reduce my principal for a few months. It's actually a slightly better deal for me.
 
This is what I was getting at. You’re basically saying it’s Apple’s gimmick to get someone who normally manages to save up for everything just fine, to carry debt.
It's not quite that simple. We have an account with our local furniture flooring place. They usually offer 0% financing for anywhere from 18 to 32 months. I'll carry a balance on that, simply because it actually works out to a slight discount. I can keep my money other places, like a brokerage account or savings account, while I schedule payments to pay that account off just before the interest-free period expires (because if you go one day past, you get to pay ALL of the accrued interest).

In all cases, we COULD pay cash if we chose. The free financing they offer isn't in lieu of a discount or anything -- the stuff we buy would cost exactly the same if we paid cash. So we get more flexibility and get to manage our money more efficiently. Assuming you actually have the money and have the discipline to manage it, it would just be foolish to not take advantage of things like this. Same for using credit cards. Every credit card I have pays anywhere from 1% to 5% in "cash back" -- direct credits we can use to pay the card balance or use for other things. I use those cards for every single dollar I can.

Apple has nothing I want, so their card isn't attractive to me... but once you learn to pay things off before they start costing you more money, you gain a lot of flexibility and can save a significant amount of money if you use credit wisely. I typically apply over $1K in direct cash back credit to my cards around the end of the year; Christmas shopping is pretty cheap for us. And that doesn't even include all the stuff I have bought from Amazon and not had to pay for.
 
It's not quite that simple.

It is that simple. Everything you described countering my statement wasn’t refuting it, t was rationalization of debt. Which is fine, but didn’t make my statement untrue. The card is a gimmick to get Apple customers to accept debt who would normally not have any.

Debt is risk. Carrying it is fine if you’re willing to add risk.

Lose a job in the middle of those “free interest” payments and you then get to decide if you really want to pay off the Apple, or the flooring, or the whatever... that was purchased with risk instead of outright with cash.

(Eight out of ten people carry balances on credit cards, and eight out of ten people say when asked they pay them off every month. So as Dr. House would say... somebody’s lying.) :)
 
Yeah, Ok. I do save, that doesn't mean I want to spend that savings. It's better to let someone else hold the debt for a little while than me reduce my principal for a few months. It's actually a slightly better deal for me.

It’s better for cash flow if you “need” one of their products before you’ve saved up for it.

They’re not really holding the risk unless you plan on defaulting on it if some circumstance change occurs. Would be interesting to know their default rate on these unsecured loans but...

They know they overcharged for a really cheaply built Intel-based laptop. They made their money right up front.
 
It is that simple. Everything you described countering my statement wasn’t refuting it, t was rationalization of debt. Which is fine, but didn’t make my statement untrue. The card is a gimmick to get Apple customers to accept debt who would normally not have any.

Debt is risk. Carrying it is fine if you’re willing to add risk.
Sigh. Please take the time to read what I said more closely.

The balance we carry on those accounts (both the extended no-interest financing, and the monthly credit card charges that get paid before the due date) is not risk. We have the funds available to pay off every single penny today (or tomorrow at the latest), if it were advantageous to do so. It is, however, not advantageous to do so. It costs me precisely nothing to carry those balances, and in the mean time the money can be earning income elsewhere. Not a lot, but those little amounts add up.
 
I have an uncle named Sam who always carries a balance on his debt. Doesn’t seem to have hurt him.
 
They’re not really holding the risk unless you plan on defaulting on it if some circumstance change occurs. Would be interesting to know their default rate on these unsecured loans but...

They know they overcharged for a really cheaply built Intel-based laptop. They made their money right up front.

Ummm...Apple’s not the bank. They’re just putting their name on a card like every other company out there. I know you’re butthurt over all things Apple, but it’s not like Apple is the only one pushing a credit card ‘gimmick’.
 
All debt is risk until it is paid. Word.
So is breathing.

If I have $100 in debt, which is costing me nothing, and $1000 in available cash... there may be some theoretical risk somewhere, but it's negligible.
 
So is breathing.

If I have $100 in debt, which is costing me nothing, and $1000 in available cash... there may be some theoretical risk somewhere, but it's negligible.

You kind of answered your own question.

What happens to that debt if you stop breathing? It is now an unpaid liability you left for someone else to sort out...
 
You kind of answered your own question.

What happens to that debt if you stop breathing? It is now an unpaid liability you left for someone else to sort out...
Still not risk. Unpaid does not mean unpayable. Other than the mortgage, there's more than enough cash to pay off any existing debt, many times over. The mortgage is secured by property that's very well insured (just in case I die in a house fire). If that's still too much complexity for whoever is handling it to handle, then oh my God!! There may be a tiny bit of interest incurred. That's not risk, it's expense.

The only risk is that my employer, AND the bank where my money is, AND the government insuring it, all collapse... and the creditor still is around to demand their money. I figure it's a small enough risk as to not be really worth worrying much about. You're grasping for a down side that just isn't there.
 
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All I know is high interest rate. I quit reading after that a long time ago. Yesterday I read that if you lose your iPhone, there is no way to make a payment. How stupid.

How are you supposed to buy a new iPhone? :rofl:

But, interest rates start at 12.99% if you have good credit. That's not too bad. It's a helluva lot better than the old AOPA card rotting away in my wallet.

Also, there's been nothing really new in the credit card industry in a long time. I'll probably get a card just to support the fact that they're trying to innovate in an industry that has remained stagnant for so long.

That’s what I’m saying though, any card will allow that. I guess you’re saying it’s 0% for three months? Thought it was “paid off every month”?

0% interest on certain purchases. That's how I bought my iPhone this time. I can take 2 years to pay it off interest free, so it makes sense to do something else with my money, set up an automated payment and be done with it.

But, that has nothing to do with the Apple Card. That deal was through someone else. The Apple Card didn't exist until this week.

What are the perks?

1% back on everything.
2% back on everything if you use Apple Pay.
3% back on everything you buy from Apple (hardware, apps, music, iCloud storage, etc)

Plus, you get a credit card that's titanium (kinda cool), Has no number on it (harder to steal), always uses a virtual card number (excellent security), gives you your perks same day (!), has lots of nice data analytics and other app features, no fees at all (not even late payment fees), text message customer support available,
 
And here I thought getting 20% off buying some Apple product off of a doofus who needed a credit card to buy it, a year old, was the better deal. Silly me. I can get 3% from Apple! LOL.
 
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