Apple has filed for a patent (number 20220343318) for “payment milestones for improved financial health.” It involves keeping track of your finances with Apple Card.
About the patent filing
On Oct. 13, Apple announced a new Savings account for Apple Card that will allow users to save their Daily Cash and grow their rewards in a high-yield Savings account from Goldman Sachs.
In the coming months, Apple Card users will be able to open the new high-yield Savings account and have their Daily Cash automatically deposited into it — with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements. Soon, users can spend, send, and save Daily Cash directly from Wallet.
“Savings enables Apple Card users to grow their Daily Cash rewards over time, while also saving for the future,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, in a press release. “Savings delivers even more value to users’ favorite Apple Card benefit — Daily Cash — while offering another easy-to-use tool designed to help users lead healthier financial lives.”
She says Apple Card users will be able to easily set up and manage Savings directly in their Apple Card in Wallet. Once users set up their Savings account, all future Daily Cash received will be automatically deposited into it, or they can choose to continue to have it added to an Apple Cash card in Wallet. Users can change their Daily Cash destination at any time.
To expand Savings even further, users can also deposit additional funds into their Savings account through a linked bank account, or from their Apple Cash balance. Users can also withdraw funds at any time by transferring them to a linked bank account or to their Apple Cash card, with no fees.
Bailey says that, once set up, Apple Card users can watch their rewards grow in Wallet through an easy-to-use Savings dashboard, which shows their account balance and interest accrued over time.
Apple Card users get 3% Daily Cash on Apple Card purchases made using Apple Pay with Apple and select merchants, including Uber and Uber Eats, Walgreens, Nike, Panera Bread, T-Mobile, ExxonMobil, and Ace Hardware, as well as 2% Daily Cash when they use Apple Pay at other merchants, and 1% on all other purchases. There is no limit to the amount of Daily Cash users can receive.
In today’s patent filing, Apple says that typical financial statements are not designed with the best interests of a customer in mind. Credit card statements, for example, typically provide only required statement categories such as a minimum due, a balance from the previous statement, and the total amount owed.
Apple says that, unfortunately, listing these required statement categories gives some customers a false sense that there are no other options. Even if they may realize they can pay any amount they desire, many customers don’t have the financial literacy or don’t take the time, to be able to figure out a healthier option than paying the minimum. Some customers feel they have paid their bill when they pay the minimum amount due.
Whereas, in reality, paying the minimum balance hurts the customer by accruing interest charges. In some instances, the interest owed might be greater than the minimum amount due. Apple wants to change this with its Apple Card app, card, and programs.
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “The disclosed technology provides enhanced financial statements such as credit statements that provide customized payment options to a customer that takes into account the total amount owed by the customer, and past payments made by the customer. The customized payment options are determined with the goal of providing more payment options that encourage financial health, while not overwhelming the customer with too many options or irrelevant options.
“The customized payment options can be displayed in an interactive user interface for paying a credit statement that can visually inform a user of the benefit of the respective payment options with respect to the impact of the respective payment option on the customer’s financial health—at least as it pertains to a credit account for which the statement was issued.”
