Apple Card Account Information Is Only Accessible Via iOS Wallet App

Nicole Nguyen, writing for Buzzfeed News:

Apple Card is a new cash-rewards credit card that — Apple purports — is designed to be simple and transparent. But it’s also aimed at keeping you locked into your iPhone.

There are no paper statements with the digital-first Apple Card. Unlike a traditional credit card, everything is accessed through the Wallet app on the iPhone, including transaction histories, total balances, previous statements, and payments. There’s no website to view the latest transactions made on the card or make a payment if you lose access to that Wallet app.

I don’t think the reason for this is to keep you locked to your iPhone, although that’s certainly a side effect. I think this simply reflects Apple’s internal culture. Apple’s culture is to make native apps for everything as a first priority, with web interfaces as a much lower priority. And in recent years, that’s shifted from native apps for iOS and Mac to just native apps for iOS. (E.g. the craptacular Catalyst apps for Stocks, News, Voice Memos, and most especially Home.) It feels ridiculous that you can’t access your Apple Card account from a Mac, whether from a native Mac app or from a website.

In some ways making the iOS Wallet app the primary interface to your Apple Card probably makes for a great experience. (I haven’t signed up for one — yet? — so I can’t say firsthand.) But not having access from a desktop computer is severely limiting in ways. Nguyen focuses on the scenario of what happens if you only have access to one iOS device and lose it (or it breaks). That’s a legitimate scenario. But what about being able to, say, export your monthly and annual statements? Or being able to search?

My hope is that Apple Card is only accessible via the iOS Wallet app for now, and that wallet.apple.com will eventually be a full-featured interface to your card account.

★ Tuesday, 20 August 2019