Apple expands fintech presence with digital savings account

Apple offers holders of its Apple Card credit card option an online banking option.

Apple Card users can now open a digital savings account from Apple’s existing financial services partner Goldman Sachs. The account offers an annual percentage rate of return of 4.15%, which Apple says is more than 10 times the national average.

The new account requires no fees, no minimum deposit and no minimum balance requirements. Apple cardholders can set up and manage their digital savings account directly from their Apple card in the iPhone Wallet app. Additionally, once they’ve created a savings account, all future Apple Card Daily Cash rewards will automatically be deposited into the account, with the ability to send and use reward funds.

However, Apple Card users can choose an alternative location to deposit daily cash rewards. They can also deposit additional funds into their savings account via a linked bank account, or from their Apple Cash balance.

Users will also have access to a savings dashboard within the Wallet app, where they can track their account balance and interest earned over time. Cardholders will be able to withdraw money through the Wallet dashboard at any time by transferring it to an associated bank account or to their Apple Cash card, without fees.

Apple launched Apple Card nationally in August 2019. Designed as an alternative to traditional credit cards, the Apple Card is built into the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone, connecting it to the Apple Pay digital payment service and giving users the ability to manage their card on their phone, without a card number, CVV security code, expiry date or signature.

The card comes with the Daily Cash cashback rewards program that returns a percentage of every purchase as cash to customers’ Apple Cash cards every day. Customers will receive 2% cashback every time they use the card with Apple Pay, and 3% back on all purchases made directly with Apple.

“Savings helps our users get even more value from their favorite Apple Card benefit — Daily Cash — while giving them an easy way to save money every day,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple VP of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. “Our goal is to build tools that help users live healthier financial lives, and embedding Apple Card savings into Wallet allows them to spend, send and save everyday cash directly and seamlessly — all from one place.”

[Read more: Following delay, Apple launches ‘buy now, pay later’ in the U.S.]