American couples will soon be able to share an Apple Card, merging their credit lines and building credit together.
Launching in the US next month, Apple Card Family comes two years after Apple first launched its credit card in partnership with Goldman Sachs.
The new feature means that an Apple Card can be shared between two eligible customer who are at least 18 as co-owners who can build credit history together, get a combined limit, see each other’s spending, share the responsibility of making payments, and get a single monthly bill to pay.
The move comes just weeks after New York regulators dismissed customer complaints that the algorithm used to determine the credit worthiness of Apple Card applicants was gender biased. Consumers interviewed for the investigation expressed the belief that they should have received the same Apple Card offers as their spouses because they shared bank accounts and other assets.
While that probe into Goldman Sachs found no evidence to support the allegations, the new Apple Card Family features will help to address concerns about differences between the offers partners receive.
Jennifer Bailey, VP, Apple Pay, says: "We designed Apple Card Family because we saw an opportunity to reinvent how spouses, partners, and the people you trust most share credit cards and build credit together.
"There’s been a lack of transparency and consumer understanding in the way credit scores are calculated when there are two users of the same credit card, since the primary account holder receives the benefit of building a strong credit history while the other does not. Apple Card Family lets people build their credit history together equally."
The new card can also be share with anyone who is 13 years or older as a participant, so that parents can give kids the chance to spend while still keeping tabs on purchases and setting spending limits.
