Sweet bite or poison Apple? The Apple Card, AKA Apple’s credit card, is running a promotion through January 13 whereby you could receive $100 or $300 in what’s sort of like cash (more on that below) if you spend beyond a certain threshold within the first 60 days of opening your account. Sound familiar? Apple ran the same promotion back in August, signaling how badly they want people to just sign up, dammit. Up through now, it’s a rare move on Apple’s part.
But the Apple Card has been struggling to live up to Apple’s expectations, and enticements of bonus cash to get people to sign up for a new credit card are more often than not a bit of a Faustian bargain. As with any credit card offer, taking advantage of this sign-up offer only makes sense if you were going to shop for an Apple Card anyway. Cashback comes and goes, but credit scores—well, they don’t last forever, but they last far longer than $300.
The everybody offer
This is the one advertised to anybody and everybody who clicks here, applies for the card, and is accepted by January 13, 2025. It’s a soft pull, which means clicking “Apply Now” won’t impact your credit score. So if you do so and are declined, no harm.
But if you’re approved and you decide to go through with it, pay attention to the fine print that “accepting an Apple Card after your application is approved will result in a hard inquiry, which may impact your credit score.” That’s par for the course on accepting any credit card.
As long as you spend a total of at least $500 within the first 60 days after opening your account, you’ll receive $100 Daily Cash. You don’t have to spend the $500 by January 13; that’s just for getting the card initially.
Even though Apple says, “It’s real cash,” there’s a footnote and a disclaimer right afterward that reads, “You can choose to direct Daily Cash to a Savings account or to an Apple Cash card. If you do not have either set up to receive your Daily Cash, it can be applied as statement credit.” So… it’s not exactly real cash. Marketing double-speak. At least it never expires.
the targeted offer
Some people were sent an email from Apple lately with the subject line, “Preview your new Apple Card credit limit offer.” I know, I know. That’s like the subject line of half of every piece of scam and spam email that passes through our inboxes.
But if you were kicking around the idea of an Apple Card within the next two weeks, check your inbox (and your spam folder) to see if you got this offer. If you didn’t, you can give this link a shot, but don’t expect it to work if you didn’t get an email from Apple
For this bonus offer, you get $300 in Daily Cash if you spend at least $1,500 in the first 60 days after opening your account. Like with the other offer, you don’t have to spend the money by January 13. You just have to sign up for the card by then.
Before you jump on this offer, ask yourself honestly if you’d have to jump through any hoops or strain yourself to charge that much onto a credit card within that time frame. Spending money you don’t have just to get a bonus is bad financial decision making.
What you get
The Apple Card has no fees, which is nice but nothing exotic or uncommon for a non-premium-travel credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve or American Express Platinum Card.
Zero foreign transaction fees are nice, though, and definitely not common on a non-travel-oriented credit card. Do you buy much overseas in foreign currencies, though, or travel internationally? The answer you give is the same as to whether this feature will be useful to you.
Lastly, there are no late fees. That’s a nice touch that sets it apart from most credit cards. But if you’re already drooling over that before you get the credit card, you should probably reassess whether you’re in a position right now to be applying for any credit card.
Your data isn’t sold to third parties for marketing or advertising, which is nice. And you get 3% cash back on all your purchases, which is also nice but not outstanding compared to the best cash-back cards out there.
Neither of these offers should swing anyone into signing up for a credit card they can’t utilize or can’t afford to maintain. They’re a cherry on top… of the Apple, but not worth straining your credit score or juggling one too many credit cards. For those who were already considering an Apple Card, though, it’s a nice bit of bonus cash if you step on the gas within the next two weeks. Well, “cash.”
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