Apple Purchases With Apple Pay
The most obvious way to earn Apple Cash with your Apple Card is when you use it to purchase anything from Apple and use Apple Pay. This will earn you 3% back on every $1 spent on purchases from Apple Stores, apple.com, the App Store, the iTunes Store, and on Apple services like AppleCare.
So, if you’re someone who purchases a lot of Apple products throughout the year, this is a great way to rack up cash-back on those purchases.
Partner Purchases With Apple Pay
Of course, the vast majority of your purchases throughout the year probably won’t be on Apple products or services. But fortunately, the Apple Card also offers 3% back on select partner purchases when you use Apple Pay.
Currently, these merchants include Uber/Uber Eats, Nike, Panera, T-Mobile, Walgreens, and Exxon and Mobil gas stations. While some of these are certainly more useful than others, some cardholders might receive great value receiving 3% back with some of these merchants.
All Other Purchases With Apple Pay
Any purchases falling outside of the above category at merchants that accept Apple Pay will earn you 2% back towards your Apple Cash balance. The key here is that the store or merchant must accept Apple Pay as a method of payment. So if you live in a location that has widespread Apple Pay acceptance, then the Apple Card will earn you 2% back on virtually every purchase you make. If not, then this might not be the best card option for you.
Purchases With Your Physical Card
For any other purchase where you do not have the ability to use Apple Pay, and you must use your physical Apple Card, you’ll earn just 1% back. In cases such as these, you might want to opt for another card in your wallet with a strong reward rate, unless you prefer to focus all of your earnings on Apple Cash.
Apple gives cardholders multiple options to redeem their Apple Cash. Image Credit: AppleWhen it comes time to redeem your Apple Cash you have 3 primary options — though each offers the same value, the added flexibility is a great feature.
Purchases Using Apple Pay
Once you’ve built up a balance of Apple Cash, you can use it as a payment method when using Apple Pay, in lieu of charging to your Apple Card. This feature is extremely convenient as you’re not required to jump through any hoops to make the redemption. All you have to do is use Apple Pay as you normally would, but select Apple Cash as your payment method instead of your Apple Card.
Person to Person Transfers
Owe your friend half the fare of an Uber ride or need to repay them for the lunch they covered for you last week? You can use your Apple Cash balance to send the funds to them, much like you would with an app like Venmo or Cash App. Keep in mind that the person receiving the payment must also have an Apple device in order for the funds to transfer.
Statement Credits
Lastly, Apple allows you to apply your Apple Cash balance to your Apple Card bill when it is due each month. This is a great way to minimize your cash outflow, as you can use the Apple Card on all of your purchases each month, then apply those rewards to lower the amount you’ll need to pay.
Prefer to deposit your Apple Cash straight into your bank account? The Apple Card gives you that option as well!
Bottom Line: No matter what you choose, each redemption offers the same value, so select whichever makes the most sense or is the most convenient for your needs!