Cryptocurrency supporters who hoped to use the upcoming credit card from Apple to splash the coin are out of luck. You can also not buy tickets, casino gambling chips or checks for foreign currency or traveler by using Apple Card in any form, physically or virtually anywhere.
As shown in a client contract published on the website of Apple Card’s card issuer partner Goldman Sachs, which lists transaction constraints as “money advance and money equivalents.”
This agreement refers in particular to the use of any advance cash or other cash transactions, including purchases of cash equivalents such as traveler’s checks, foreign exchange or crypto-monetary funds. The agreement also included money orders, payment transfers, wire transfers or similar cash-like transactions.
The Apple+Goldman loan tie-up stating a company’ no’ to cardholders splashing on such fragile things is hardly surprising given the wild swings in crypto valuations.
Apple announced it was entering the credit card game back in March, stating the card would give a 2% money back incentive to make purchases using Apple Pay. (The physical version of the Apple Card is slightly less generous than the digital card.) While there’s 3 percent cash-back when you buy things directly from Apple.
There are no late fees and there are no penalty rates. Apple Card interest rates are 13-24 percent, depending on the creditworthiness of the user.
It should be noted that in the past year, Apple banned mining apps from its App Store. Therefore, this move does not seem too surprising. On the other side, Goldman Sachs appears keen on cryptocurrencies. There were reports in June-end that stated the investment bank was planning to launch their crypto, similar to the JPM Coin from JPMorgan. In reality, David Solomon, CEO of Goldman, had revealed comprehensive studies on stable coins and tokenization of assets.
Like Apple Pay, there is also a promise of privacy— with a guarantee that Apple Card transaction information will not be sold for publicity or marketing purposes, not by Apple, Goldman or any other partner. Although information can be shared for financial reporting reasons with regulators and so on.
The banking giant Chase, as stated, is presently facing a class action suit that depends on whether cryptocurrency purchases qualify as a sort of cash advance or cash-like transaction, as outlined in its credit card agreement. Most lately, the judge who oversees the case said they think that the understanding of the defendants, which states that cryptocurrency purchases do not fall within this category, is plausible enough to continue with the lawsuit. As such, several motions for Chase’s dismissal were denied as they are closely related to this issue.
Next month, the Apple Card will be released in the US.
