The Apple Card arrives this summer. Before that happens though, the company has been slowly expanding availability to test out the card ahead of the public launch.
According to Bloomberg, Apple has expanded availability of its first credit card to retail employees. This new system is handled by an internal beta program which, according to the report, launched this week. The employees are able to activate the card on their personal device, with the Apple Pay portion switching on immediately. They have to wait two to three weeks for the physical card to arrive, though.
And, according to the report, everything is fully functional. This is a big moment for Apple as a whole, as this means thousands of employees are able to test the card in the wild, giving the company some real world expectations ahead of the public launch.
Screenshots of the employee beta of the Apple Card show that test versions of the card are fully functional and include the ability to receive daily cash back, pay bills, see an order status for a physical card and receive technical support via text messaging. Users can also schedule payments, access their credit limit and manage connected bank accounts, among other tasks. Users will also have the ability to set the Apple Card as the default payment method for Apple purchases.
Apple officially announced the Apple Card back in March of this year. It offers a variety of customer-focused features, including 3% cash back on Apple purchases, 2% cash back on any transactions made with Apple Pay, and 1% cash back on all other purchases. In fact, the benefits are so customer-friendly, in terms of standard credit cards, that many other banks backed out of the deal with Apple. Goldman Sachs is officially working with Apple to launch the Apple Card this year.
When the card arrives this summer, it will only be available in the United States to start. However, this report indicates that Apple has already set its sights on Europe, and is working with financial regulators in the region to bring the credit card to customers there in the future.
Are you planning on applying for the Apple Card once it launches?