financial

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Low Credit Score? No Problem, You Could Still Get an Apple Card

Andrew Orr ·

Goldman Sachs is accepting “subprime” applicants for Apple Card, meaning people with a low credit score.

While there is no standard definition for who qualifies as subprime, most fall under a FICO score of 660, and their loans often sour before borrowers with higher credit scores. Ten years ago, big lenders got into trouble when irresponsible loans made to subprime mortgage borrowers defaulted, helping create the worst excesses of the financial crisis.

I think this is great. Apple Card revolves around helping you pay off your credit as soon as possible, and tells you the minimum payment you need for a zero-interest payment. You might still get a high APR, but as long as you don’t carry a balance that won’t affect you. As we head into another school year, Apple Card could be a good choice for college students who may have low credit.

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Apple Card Doesn't Support Financial Apps

Andrew Orr ·

Within Wallet, your Apple Card will display transaction categories, transaction history, total spending, and more. But you won’t be able to export that data to financial apps.

As financial apps like Mint and software like Quicken are popular with many people, it’s possible that Apple will add support for exporting data in the future. Right now, Apple Card data and transactions can be viewed and managed only on the iPhone and the iPad, with no web support available.

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Mastercard Benefits for Apple Card Customers

Andrew Orr ·

While Apple is busy rolling out its credit card to customers, Mastercard shared some benefits you’ll get with the card. Both companies clearly prefer Apple Card to be your default payment method, and maybe these extra features will entice you. Here is one:

Mastercard ID Theft Protection

A complimentary service that will alert you about possible identity theft by monitoring the surface, dark and deep web, searching for compromised credentials and potentially damaging use of your registered personal information.2 To enroll, visit applecard.idprotectiononline.com.

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Apple Card Rolls Out to Select Users Today

Andrew Orr ·

Apple Card preview is rolling out today to a select group of users who signed up to be notified of the release, although we don’t know if it’s all users who signed up or a small group.

Apple Card is getting its first group of public test users today. A limited amount of customers that signed up to be notified about the release of Apple Card are getting the ability to apply for the card in their Wallet app today — as well as the option to order their physical Apple Card. A full rollout of Apple Card will come later in August. It requires iOS 12.4 and up to operate.

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Apple Previews Apple Card Sign Up Process

Andrew Orr ·

Apple’s wallet.apple.com website gives people a video on how to apply for Apple Card, which consists of opening the Wallet app and tapping the plus (+) button on the upper right.

Before you start, there are a few things to check: You are a US citizen or lawful resident at least 18 years of age or older. Make sure you’re on the latest version of iOS. Learn here how to update. Applying for Apple Card requires an iPhone that can use Apple Pay. Check here to see if your device is compatible.

I can’t wait for the launch, and will be signing up.

 

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DoNotPay Can Manage Your Free Trials

Andrew Orr ·

A service called DoNotPay can manage your free trials. Sign up using its digital credit card number and you won’t be charged when the trial ends.

The Free Trial Card is a virtual credit card you can use to sign up for free trials of any service anonymously, instead of using your real credit card. When the free trial period ends, the card automatically declines to be charged, thus ending your free trial. You don’t have to remember to cancel anything. If you want, the app will also send an actual legal notice of cancellation to the service.

I’m interested to try this out. Currently I use a service called Privacy, which lets me generate virtual cards that I can lock to a certain merchant or money amount. The story by Wired is about free trials, but the app description sounds like it can do more, calling itself a “robot lawyer.”

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Goldman Sachs Spent $1.3B on Consumer Transformation

Andrew Orr ·

New York-based bank Goldman Sachs isn’t usually associated with average consumers. But it has spent US$1.3 billion to transform itself with initiatives like Apple Card (via CNBC). Goldman Transformation So far in 2019 Goldman Sachs has spent US$275 million on its new businesses like Apple Card and its consumer bank Marcus. In an earnings call…

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Apple 2019 Revenue Up 15% at $39 Billion From App Store

Andrew Orr ·

Apple 2019 revenue for the first half of this year is up 15% from last year, topping US$39 billion from the App Store.

According to a new report from Sensor Tower, the iOS App Store and Google Play combined brought in $39.7 billion in worldwide app revenue in the first half of 2019 — that’s up 15.4% over the $34.4 billion seen during the first half of last year. However, at that time, the $34.4 billion was a 27.8% increase from 2017’s numbers, then a combined $26.9 billion across both stores.

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You Could Get a TurboTax Refund if you Make Under $34,000

Andrew Orr ·

If you make less than US$34,000 per year, you could get a TurboTax refund if the company made you pay them when you filed your taxes.

If you are one of the millions of Americans who made under $34,000 last year, you should have been able to use a free version of TurboTax. If TurboTax directed you to a paid version, it’s worth giving the company a call.

“I called today and they are issuing a refund on my credit card,” one reader said. “I just had to mention ProPublica.”

Thanks to lobbying by corporations like TurboTax, the IRS doesn’t do our taxes for us like other countries.

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Backlash Against Cashless Stores

Andrew Orr ·

There is no federal law that requires stores to accept cash, which was something that surprised me. So some stores are going cashless, but some argue this discriminates against poor people who don’t have a bank account and/or a fancy smartphone.

Advocates for cashless bans worry technology is moving too fast for the 6.5% of American households — 8.4 million — that do not have a bank account, according to figures from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Cashless is hard enough, but imagine if you walked into a store only to find out that it only accepts Google Pay. That might bring the reality a bit closer to home.

 

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Apple Offers $9.7 Million to Cupertino for Transportation

Andrew Orr ·

After the city of Cupertino agreed to hold changes to a business tax that would have cost Apple over US$9 million, the company has offered US$9.7 million on five transportation projects for cyclers and pedestrians.

[Last year’s proposal] would have generated $10 million in annual revenue, most which would have come from Apple, the city’s largest employer with 24,000 workers…The city decided to postpone a ballot measure to change the business tax until 2020, giving them time to work with Apple and other businesses on private funding to relieve commuter traffic. City staff have been meeting with Apple representatives once every two weeks since October.

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Poor People Need Privacy As Much as Everyone Else

Andrew Orr ·

Elizabeth Brico writes how privacy might be turning into a luxury, and how poor people can’t afford the legal costs if their identity is stolen because of all the data breaches.

For her part, Gilman argued that many times, names and addresses can be enough to commit the types of identity fraud she has helped her low-income clients battle. “It can cost time and money to clean up the effects of identity theft because low income people are already living on the economic margins, any loss of funds can be catastrophic,” she said. “You have less privacy as a poor person,” Muentz added. “Privacy is becoming a luxury.”

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In 2023 Apple Wants to Have Zero Net Cash

Andrew Orr ·

Apple has US$245 of gross cash and other things like long-term securities. It has US$115 billion in long-term debt. This makes its net cash position US$130 billion, and Apple CFO Luca Maestri has said eventually the company wants to have a net cash neutral position. Tiernan Ray writes about issues that may arise because of this.

Come 2023, will investors balk at an Apple suddenly less generous with its capital returns? And if Apple puts off that day as much as possible, plodding along with no significant increase in capital returns, will it lose the support of those fickle buyers hungry for shares with meaningful dividend buyback increases every year?

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