Canadian Government Approves Apple Card and Apple Cash Trademarks

I know a few folks that really struggled with their cards (to the point where their minimum payments were less than the interest being applied) so they didn't get anywhere in a vicious cycle.

This is very illegal in Canada. All minimum payments on credit cards must include all accumulated interest for that month.

I have heard that it will be difficult to roll out Apple Card in the EU, since EU credit cards differ from the American ones. I have no idea if this is true, or how any of this works though.

The difference is that our banks' credit cards (in Belgium at least) don't actually give you much credit in terms of deciding when you pay back the money. I believe that in the US you get a bill sent to you from your credit card company... and then you decide how much you want to pay... if you don't pay everything back the astronomical interest rates start to apply to the money you still owe. And that is why there is a lot of money to be made from people with poor financial responsibility who overspend and can't pay back. With all the social drama that follows.

In Europe there is no such a thing, there is no bill being sent to the customer. The credit card is linked to a checkings account and the bank just takes what you owe, straight out of your account. All the expenses you rack up over the period of 1 month are taken out on a certain day in the next month.

The max period of credit you get is 1 month. There are no interest rates. You can't neglect to pay and dig yourself into deep hole of debt. It protects us in that way.

The difference is that our banks' credit cards (in Belgium at least) don't actually give you much credit in terms of deciding when you pay back the money. I believe that in the US you get a bill sent to you from your credit card company... and then you decide how much you want to pay... if you don't pay everything back the astronomical interest rates start to apply to the money you still owe. And that is why there is a lot of money to be made from people with poor financial responsibility who overspend and can't pay back. With all the social drama that follows.

In Europe there is no such a thing, there is no bill being sent to the customer. The credit card is linked to a checkings account and the bank just takes what you owe, straight out of your account. All the expenses you rack up over the period of 1 month are taken out on a certain day in the next month.

The max period of credit you get is 1 month. There are no interest rates. You can't neglect to pay and dig yourself into deep hole of debt. It protects us in that way.

It's different in the UK again.

My credit card provider will generate a new statement at the start of the month saying "your balance is £300, and your minimum payment is £20". If I pay the £20 minimum payment, that's all I need to do, however the remaining £180 balance will carry over to next month, plus "merchandise interest", which with my card is 2-3% on purchases made beyond 60 days. At the start of the next month, the process repeats until the balance is cleared. The minimum payment is generally the same every time.

If I chose instead to clear the full balance, I don't pay anything extra. If I didn't pay the minimum balance, I'd get a "late payment fee" (which I think is about £15 with my card), and if I don't make a minimum payment before the end of that month, it would be a "missed payment", which would then impact my credit rating, risk my card being frozen etc.

(Worth noting, I can set up my accounts in a way where the credit card balance is automatically debited from my main bank account similar to how you describe, but I do it the way I described above instead - just for more flexibility / control over my payments.)

It's definitely an easy hole for people to get themselves dug into when it comes to the merchandise interest. I know a few folks that really struggled with their cards (to the point where their minimum payments were less than the interest being applied) so they didn't get anywhere in a vicious cycle. Folks forget that you can do balance transfers where you may get 12-18 of interest-free credit, so they can reduce the amount without interest.

Apple had financing before in Canada through TD. All they really need is a partner, which shouldn't be too hard to find.

Finally! Can’t wait ?
Canadian credit cards usually offer lower cash back and credits than their US counterparts. So I won’t expect Apple Card to have exactly the same cash back rates as in US. But still it would be nice to have all the other intelligent features.

Step in the right direction but doesn't necessarily mean a launch is coming. Didn't they get approval in the EU/UK in 2019?

Yup. It could be in preparation for a larger roll-out at once, maybe with iOS 15.