The approval of two trademarks has raised hopes of seeing the launch of Apple Card in Canada. Canadian trademarks were approved for both Apple Card and Apple Cash.
The Canadian Trademarks Database reveals that it took quite some time to get approval …
Apple filed its application back in July of 2019, and approval was finally granted just last week.
iPhone in Canada spotted the filing.
Apple Inc. is listed as the applicant, with the filings completed by agent Baker & McKenzie LLP.
Apple Card is the iPhone maker’s own “reinvented” credit card, currently only available in the United States. An Apple Card credit card easily is accessed via your iPhone and also a physical titanium card as well. There are no fees, 2% daily cash back and more from various partners.
As for Apple Cash, launched in the U.S. back in late 2017, it allows iPhone users to easily send and receive money with your debit card via Apple Pay, right within iMessage or by using Siri. Essentially, if Apple Cash were to launch in Canada, say good bye to sending Interac e-Transfers.
iOS 14.5 beta code contains ‘Apple Card Family’ features for multi-user accounts, while new financial health features have also been discovered by 9to5Mac to be coming in the Wallet app.
Apple Card was launched in the US in 2019, and hasn’t yet made it to any other countries.
International rollout of the Apple Card is far from straightforward. There are different regulatory requirements in each country, and Apple may need to find different partner banks, with all the negotiations and preparatory work that implies.
Additionally, one of the key benefits of the Apple Card may not be possible in many countries. Apple offers a generous cash-back rate of 2% on most purchases when using the card via Apple Pay. That cost is funded by interchange fees, the percentage or flat fee charged to merchants by the card’s issuing bank. US interchange fees are high enough to make a 2% reward viable, while this is not the case in all countries.
Canadian interchange fees could potentially make Apple’s reward program feasible, however, so the country would make a logical early target for expansion. Whether we’ll see the Apple Card in Canada any time soon remains unknown, but it’s at least a step along the way.
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