Multi-user accounts with ‘Apple Card Family’ feature teased again in latest iOS 14.5 beta

Back at the beginning of February, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 14.5 to developers. As is par for the course, new features were discovered soon after. That includes new multi-user account support for the Apple Card.

Now, barely a month later the company seeded the third beta of iOS 14.5 to developers. And, it turns out, the prerelease software has yet another tease that the new feature for Apple’s own credit card is in the works. The new feature, “Apple Card Family”, is designed to let an Apple Card owner invite others to use the same line of credit. Sharing is done through the iCloud Family Sharing feature.

As hinted at before, the Apple Card Family feature will let the primary user set a spending limit for others on the account. But it goes beyond that, too. The latest hint comes with two different options for sharing the Apple Card with others. The first level appears to be “Spending Only”, which will only let guests use the credit line. It won’t let them see the transaction history or the total balance.

Meanwhile, the next option is “Become Co-Owners”. This will let the guest member(s) see that more sensitive information. It will also give the option for the guest user to “have their own credit score in bureaus instead of sharing the same credit score”. To have that option, the guest user will need to share their social security number to Goldman Sachs Bank.

Per the report from 9to5Mac:

By providing your Social Security number to Goldman Sachs Bank USA you can build credit history while using Apple Card. Credit reporting can assist people with no or limited credit history by establishing or expanding their credit file.

Generally, accounts that have: (i) been established for a while, (ii) show consistent on-time payments, and (iii) balances below 30% of their total credit limit will result in a more positive credit impact. Your account will be reported to the credit bureaus as an Authorized User, which is a signal that you are able to spend on the account, but are not responsible for payments. Being an Authorized User on an account that has a negative payment history or is over utilized can have negative affect.

At this point, Apple has yet to officially announce that Apple Card Family is a feature the company is working on. However, based on the code discovered in iOS 14.5, it certainly appears that’s what’s happening. Will the new feature arrive with the public launch of iOS 14.5? That remains to be seen.