Apple Card’s New Privacy Policy May Offer a Second Chance to Rejected Applicants
Apple Card has a new privacy policy that affects current customers as well as people who have not yet applied for a credit card. The changes are expected to make it easier for Apple’s banking partner Goldman Sachs to decide which potential customers are creditworthy.
TechCrunch’s Matthew Panzarino was the first to announce the revised policy, which has two key features.
If you apply for an Apple Card but are not approved, you can authorize the sharing of personal information with Goldman Sachs. This personal information, which may include information about your relationship with Apple (such as how long you have made purchases from Apple), may be used to re-review your rejected application or to increase your credit limit. According to Panzarino, this option existed before, but in the future it will include additional data.
For current cardholders, Apple will provide Goldman Sachs with additional anonymous data to help the company create a new formula for determining who is eligible for credit. The policy emphasizes that no personally identifiable information will be shared with Goldman Sachs. People who wish to opt out of additional data sharing can send an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Apple and Apple Card Relationship Data.”
While Panzarino writes that we need to know which parts of our personal data are being transferred, he acknowledges that there is more control here than you might expect. “Most cards take all of the above information and more in the approval process, and they don’t take any action outside the scope of regulatory requirements to inform you about it. Apple does more than many others. “
Credit cards are essential to enable you to opt out of data sharing, but Apple earned positive attention when it issued its card, ensuring customers that it doesn’t verify your transaction history at all. Rather, it only transfers it to Goldman Sachs, and Goldman Sachs is not allowed to use this data to advertise customers.
But beyond Apple and Goldman Sachs, you can rest assured that there are many other places where your personal information is tracked – either anonymous or linked to your unique spending habits. From retailers to payment networks, there is a lot of information about your shopping habits around.
The only way to completely protect your privacy is to not use credit cards at all, which opens up a whole host of worms if you ever want to buy a house or fund a major purchase.