What is the savings account launched by Apple
The tech giant has tied up with Goldman Sachs to offer the savings account. It will need no fee, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements.
What is this savings account?
The feature to set up the account can be found in the Apple Wallet app.
In a press release, Apple said once the users set up this Goldman Sachs account, all the Daily Cash they earn on their Apple Card will be deposited into it, and earn interest. ‘Daily Cash’ is earned when the Apple Card is used to buy something. According to Apple, “When you buy something with Apple Card, you get a percentage of your purchase back in Daily Cash. There’s no limit to how much Daily Cash you can get.”
If a user does not want the Daily Cash to go into this account, they can change the destination. They can also add more money to it.
“To build on their savings even further, users can deposit additional funds into their Savings account through a linked bank account, or from their Apple Cash balance,” Apple’s press release said.
Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said in the press release, “Our goal is to build tools that help users lead healthier financial lives, and building Savings into Apple Card in Wallet enables them to spend, send, and save Daily Cash directly and seamlessly — all from one place.”
How to withdraw money from this account?
“Users will also have access to an easy-to-use Savings dashboard in Wallet, where they can conveniently track their account balance and interest earned over time. Users can also withdraw funds at any time through the Savings dashboard by transferring them to a linked bank account or to their Apple Cash card, with no fees,” the release said.
What is the significance of Apple’s move?
Apple is offering an APY of 4.15 per cent on its savings account, which is quite high and can pose competition to other banks. According to Apple’s own press release, its rate is “more than 10 times the national average” in the US.
According to a CNBC report, the national average APY on savings accounts in the US is 0.35%, as per data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. However, the same report adds that “competing savings accounts offered by large credit unions, online banks and brick-and-mortar banks can also offer customers a significant APY.”
