If you need to throw money away for status, I can think of far more beneficial ways to do it than a poorly designed payment card that scratches and stains too easily.
Of course, the merchant pays a fee when you use it, and you get some of that back in the form of rewards, so you have to compare how the Apple Card’s reward scheme stacks up against other cards. I’m not an expert, but from what I’ve heard it’s at least decent.
So there’s really no money being thrown away here.
You do know that they increase the default price to compensate for the commission they pay to the banks right?
Ultimately the result is:
- the bank mostly is unaffected because it gets the point it gives you from the merchant
- Merchant increase the price that to compensate for the commission
- you are not affected because whatever you get as points you pay back with the increase in price
- whoever pays cash is paying 3% more which goes mostly to the merchant
https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/8/21/20827303/apple-card-...
But you totally can.
Apple just points out that the Apple card, like literally any other card can get scratched or discolored.
Uhh, what?
I'm looking at my wallet of cards right now, all of which I have had for multiple years. I have 2 metal cards, 4 plastic cards. Only one of them, the one that I have had for 3 years, is discolored in any way, and even then the discoloration is minor (its more of a dulling of the shininess, not really discoloration).
Odds are the Apple card would be exactly like your other cards.