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I hate my Apple card and can't imagine using it for anything outside of buying Apple products. I own an apple computer and an iPad, but I can only check my payments and check my balance on my iPad. I can't connect the card to my budgeting software so I have to enter transactions in manually. If I were to use it daily, I would have to enter so many transactions manually. Obviously I can't pay for things on my Android phone

The cards cash back offers no advantage over other cards outside of buying Apple products directly from Apple and getting a year to pay for products interest free.

I have an Apple card. I had a few hundred bucks in Apple Cash I earned from cash back just sitting there doing nothing so I swept it off into Apple Savings so sit there and do nothing but at least earn a little interest on it.

I'd imagine the majority of the new accounts have done this as well. It's a secondary, not primary, banking account.

Were you not aware you could transfer that cash to a normal checking account?

What normal checking account pays those rates?

Sure, you could then bounce it to a savings account that pays those rates, or better. The rate isn’t everything.

Apple created a very friendly path of least resistance.

FYI Apple Card / Apple Savings are run by Goldman Sachs & Apple. So I'm guessing they found some value in this operation.

I agree its offering is very mid (just like Apple Card) so I don't use it but for some opening a new account elsewhere is challenging.

Goldman's recent earnings report said they were taking a bath on their foray into the consumer sector, having lost $3B in the process, with a half a billion on consumer loans alone.* I don't imagine they'd be doing the Apple bank account if they weren't contractually obligated. Or maybe they just think there's a hope for some Apple pixie dust.

* https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/business/goldman-sachs-1q...

Some of this is weird accounting stuff - I think they can't recognize income yet because they committed themselves to holding off some of it as insurance against credit card defaults.

Is it possible GS needs Apple to get entry into the consumer (non-money-market) market, possibly to provide the needed liquidity/cover for their institutional investments? In that case, it's an R&D expense for them they can simply write off.

Apple's value add is like Vercel's value add (drawing from the other thread on the front page) - user experience for people who can't be bothered to deal with all the hard bad stuff. It will work up to a certain limit, but once you want the slightest of extra features, you're going to land in a tough spot.

put 100k at 4% vs what a savings account at a bank gives you thats a grocery bill a month in profit.

But why would you put $100k in savings? There are so many better places that are going to get you more than a monthly grocery bill over time.

If you're looking to use that 100k soon, maybe for a new house, or saving to start a business, then you want very safe and liquid options. 4% is close enough to other safe options that if it's easy then that's good enough for some people.

Money market is completely liquid.

> But why would you put $100k in savings? There are so many better places that are going to get you more than a monthly grocery bill over time.

If someone is sitting on 100k in savings, there isn't much of a practical difference to moving it to a money market. The rates aren't significantly different. Some banks have higher savings rates, some higher money market rates. That makes other things your deciding factors such as the trust in a brand, quality of life, ease of use.

Savings accounts are tax-disadvantaged; interest is taxed like ordinary income. I'm not sure about money market funds, but municipal/treasury bonds don't have that problem.

Remember, taxes are designed to benefit rich passive investors, so you gotta act like one.

Income from treasury bonds is taxed by the federal government.

Pretty good deal in a high tax state. I think it should be taxed as capital gains though, it's all pretty arbitrary.

Money market interest income is taxed as income. So replying to the commenter to use money market accounts over savings, there isn’t a big difference. People go with what’s easiest and convenient when rates aren’t significantly different.

Treasury bills are a great option. A 3 month treasury pays over 5% and they are exempt from state income tax. There is not meaningful interest rate risk in a bond that matures in a few months, but you can still sell before maturity if you need the money. So in almost any scenario you can come up with, it’s better than the savings account.

The average person has no idea what a treasury bond is. Everyone knows what a savings account is.

Sure, they sound scary and complicated, but I’m here to tell you that if you have a need to store a six-figure sum of money in a cash equivalent, it’s worth figuring out how to buy a treasury bill from your brokerage to get the most out of your money.

And not lose money unpredictably? Do tell. (I realize 4% is less than inflation)

Money market

Are the rates much higher? Didn't seem so at the online banks.

First think I looked at was vio, more than 50 bps higher.

Any docs or how-tos youd recommend?

Looks like vanguard (vmfxx) is offering 4.78 and apple is offering 4.15. That's about 60 bps, it's not world changing, but vmfxx is a better deal but it may be a little more cumbersome for some.

The stock market has been declining for a while.

4% is better than a 10 - 50% loss.

Emergency savings should NEVER be put anywhere where it would be at risk or inaccessible when you need it most.

Sure, but $100k is very high for emergency savings. Most recommendations point to 3 months. Even if you are very risk adverse, most people do not need $100k for 6 or even 12 months of expenses.

It's daily cash from the Apple Card. All your daily cash (1-3% cashback from Apple card purchases) automatically lands in the account.

Also, Apple does not manage these accounts. Goldman Sachs does.

I figured I wouldn't use it, but having the cashback automatically get dropped in savings is an actual godsend. It may actually promote better savings habits for some folks.

It's a savings account not a checking account.