Here's the Difference Between Apple Pay, the Apple Card, and Apple Cash

Even if you were an early adopter of all things Apple, losing track of the various Apple products is easy. For example, you've got the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Apple TV+. And there's Apple Pay, Apple Card, and Apple Cash. Here, we'll clear up any lingering confusion regarding the difference between the latter three. 

Before we lay out the differences, let's touch on what these three Apple offerings have in common. All are accessible from the Apple Wallet on your iPhone.

Apple Pay

At the heart of everything is Apple Pay. It's the system within your iPhone that makes digital payments possible. Once you load debit and credit card details into the Apple Pay app, there's no reason to carry the physical cards.

Let's say you're at the grocery store and about to pay for your purchases. Instead of pulling out a credit card, you open the Apple Pay app and pull up the virtual credit card you want to use.

Apple Pay wants to make sure it's you using the card, so it requires authentication through Face ID, fingerprint scan, or personal passcode. Once you've verified your identity, you'll hold your iPhone near the payment terminal until the purchase is confirmed.

Due to the number of security layers built into the system, you don't have to worry about someone accessing your personal financial information or hacking your account. 

Apple Card

Goldman Sachs backs the Apple Card. And like other credit cards, the Apple Card can be loaded into Apple Pay and used to make digital purchases. However, if you'd prefer (or if you're shopping somewhere that doesn't take Apple Pay), you can use the physical Mastercard sent when your credit card application is approved. 

Here's a quick rundown of other Apple Card benefits:

• You can find out if you're approved without impacting your credit score. It takes minutes to find out if you qualify and receive an interest rate offer.
• There are no fees. This means no annual, late, or foreign transaction fees.
• You receive unlimited daily 3% cash back at Apple and select other merchants, and 2% cash back on other purchases when you use your iPhone or Apple Watch to pay with Apple Card.
• Apple Card will estimate interest costs in real time, leaving you better equipped to make an informed purchase decision. 
• Apple Card never sells your data to third parties for marketing or advertising.

Apple Cash

Apple Cash is a digital card that allows you to send and receive money in Messages or your Apple Wallet. Like regular currency, you can spend the funds any way you'd like. You can use Apple Cash to shop online, in stores, and anywhere that accepts Apple Pay.

Apple calls Apple Cash a "prepaid debit card in your Apple Wallet." That's because you can only use Apple Cash to pay someone after you've connected it to a debit or prepaid credit card. Unlike a traditional credit card, you're not borrowing the money you spend. Instead, you're paying with your own money.

Here are some of the specifics associated with Apple Cash:

• The sender and receiver must have a compatible device with iOS 11.2 or later.
• Apple Cash must be tied to a debit or prepaid credit card.
• Users must be at least 18 years old.
• Payments are sent and received through Messages on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.
• The maximum balance you can carry on Apple Cash is $20,000, and you can only add $10,000 per transaction (or a total of $10,000 within seven days).
• Using Apple Cash is free.

In a nutshell, here are the differences between these three Apple offerings:

Apple Pay: The system in your iPhone that makes digital payments possible.

Apple Card: A digital and physical credit card.

Apple Cash: Like a prepaid debit card in your Apple Wallet that allows you to send and receive money. 

While technology has made life easier in many ways, it's also given us far more terms to understand and remember.