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One Vision

The Object of Desire

When apple announced their iPad, there was a discussion on how different it was from a laptop. It was indeed differentiated, and one major research identified that, accessing a large screen device at a simple press of a button is a major difference.


This episode of Rhetoriq is slightly different, where Theodora Lau and Bradley Leimer talk about the apple card. The launch of the Apple Card has caused quite a stir – amongst the Apple loyalists and naysayers alike. The loyalists marvel at the ease of activation and digital issuance. The naysayers criticize it as not being “revolutionary” – that there is nothing new nor extraordinary about it.


Some mocked Apple for even coming up with a card at all – seemingly forgetting that not merchant has the ability to accept Apple Pay.  However, the user experience is now controlled by the handset operating system, i.e., Apple and Android, enabling new suites of applications and industries from digital health to personal financial management tools; from on-demand services to social media. With a click of a button, we are instantly connected to our friends and colleagues across the world; we have access to information 24x7 right at our finger tips; and we can get what we want, when we want it, right at our doorstep.


With 100 Million customers who can be termed as a "quick win", apple could easily get a massive market share in the US in quick time. The Apple Card (and Marcus) could also borrow the playbook from a few FinTech startups today – from providing virtual card numbers for online shopping, or learning users behavior and automatically applying various rewards and incentives, to helping reduce subscription charges that we have signed up for and forgotten.


This is just a beginning of infinite possibilities for Apple in the Fintech space. Listen in for more detailed insights from Brad and Theo.

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