by Jason Snell
Apple Cash becomes Apple savings account
Starting today, Apple Card users can choose to grow their Daily Cash rewards with a Savings account from Goldman Sachs, which offers a high-yield APY of 4.15 percent — a rate that’s more than 10 times the national average. With no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements, users can easily set up and manage their Savings account directly from Apple Card in Wallet.
Essentially, Apple is turning the limbo state of Apple Pay Cash (which is where all the money earned from Apple Card rewards) into an actual savings account with a high interest rate, at least for Apple Card customers. (The account, like the card, is from Goldman Sachs.)
I am not a financial-industry analyst, so I’m curious about what the motivation for this product might be. My first thought is that by offering a good interest rate, it will encourage Apple Card users to keep their money in Apple’s accounts rather than transfer them back to their home banks. And I assume there’s a long game here involving Apple encouraging people to be comfortable leaving their money with Apple, to be extended with future financial products.