The Apple Card was launched a little over four years ago as a joint initiative between Apple and Goldman Sachs. The global smartphone market was already relatively saturated at the time (it is even more saturated today) and this foray into banking announced by Apple was seen by many as a bold move that could well lead to a positive outcome. In fact, Samsung even decided to launch a very similar product shortly after, hoping to jump on the same bandwagon.
Originally the card was only available in the US and you had to own an iPhone to order it, let alone use it. Nevertheless, the first reception was more than warm. As is often the case with Apple products, it didn’t take long for some design flaws to emerge, leading to some annoyance towards the company – and yet the sky still seemed blue and free of any worrying signs. In 2021, it was reported that the Titan credit card had around 3 million users, a satisfactory number, although not a record.
Then the hype train stopped. Apple paid little attention to the card in 2022 and the same was true in 2023. There were no announcements or rumors that Apple was taking steps to introduce the card in other markets; Everything was very quiet, so it seemed like something wasn’t going quite as planned. A few months ago, this sentiment was reinforced by reports that Apple and Goldman Sachs were on the verge of parting ways; Around the same time, it was reported that Apple was in talks with some Indian companies about launching the card in India. Neither rumor has so far proven to be accurate.
However, the overall picture is not one of resounding success and wonderful expansion plans, but rather a picture of “how to get this done without losing face”. While the rumor mill doesn’t plan on forgetting the Apple Car, and there’s no shortage of news about the Apple Vision Pro headset, the Apple Card could well join the ranks of iPods, the AirPort Extreme and other products that were at one point considered boring and it not worth developing further. Maybe it’s not profitable enough; It’s impossible to know the reasons because “what happens at Apple tends to stay at Apple.”