Samsung Just Took on the Apple Card - 3% Cash Back on EVERYTHING!

Samsung has officially launched its first credit card in the United States, and this thing looks like it was designed to attack the Apple Card directly. It is called the Samsung Galaxy Card. It earns as much as 5% cashback, comes with a metal physical card, same as the Apple Card, needs to be used through mobile wallet to get the full benefit, same as the Apple Card, and even offers a real welcome bonus, something Apple Card normally does not do. But is this actually the Apple Card killer, or is it just another tech company credit card designed to keep you trapped inside one ecosystem? Let's take a look. Hey credit warriors, welcome to the show. My name is Ben Hedges, aka The Credit Shifu, and on this channel we cover US credit cards, personal finance, and luxury travel. So, Samsung has teamed up with Barclays to launch the new Samsung Galaxy Card. The card is issued by Barclays Consumer Bank, runs on the Visa Network, and will be available to the general public beginning July 22nd, which is tomorrow if you're watching this on the day this video came out. Cardholders receive both a virtual version inside Samsung Wallet, and a premium metal physical card. And Samsung has actually created a pretty aggressive rewards structure. First, you earn 5% cash rewards on eligible purchases made directly with Samsung. That includes purchases through Samsung.com, Samsung Experience Stores, the Shop Samsung app, the Galaxy Store, Samsung Care Plus, the Samsung Smart TV. This is like a tongue twister saying Samsung so many times. So, whether you're buying a new Galaxy phone, or television, or refrigerator, device protection, or whatever, you could potentially earn 5% back. But realistically for most people, that's only going to be like a few times a year that you make those purchases. But there is more. You earn 3% cash back rewards on purchases made using the Galaxy Card through Samsung Wallet. And this is probably the most important earning category on the entire card, because it means you could potentially earn 3% back across a very wide range of purchases, as long as the merchant accepts mobile wallet payments, and you use Samsung Wallet. And in case you are wondering, Samsung Wallet used to be called Samsung Pay, and it is now called Samsung Wallet, and it is accepted anywhere that NFC payments are accepted, which is most places now. I can feel this card will get added to our list of best non-category cards in the future. You then earn 2% back on eligible streaming services, including examples such as Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, etc. That's nice to have, but most people spending on streaming is probably only about $100 a month max, so I don't see this as a huge category. Finally, we earn 1% cash rewards on all other purchases, and the card reportedly has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, which makes it relatively easy to keep long-term. I mean, it's a no-brainer. It's not costing you anything to keep, so you could just keep it. Cardholders also receive 20% of Samsung's VIP Advantage membership and earn 5% back when purchasing or renewing that membership. But Samsung did something else that immediately makes this card more interesting to sign up for than the Apple Card. It has a traditional welcome bonus. New cardholders can earn $200 in bonus cash rewards after spending $2,000 within the first 90 days of opening the account. Now, $200 after spending $2,000, that's effectively a 10% return on that initial spending before including the normal rewards that you would earn on the purchases. You know, if it was through mobile wallet, it would be 3% rewards as well, so 13%. Now, this is not the largest credit card bonus in the world, and the spend requirement is pretty high. Four times what we'd normally expect, okay? We'd normally expect you to have to spend $500 to get a $200 bonus. But the Apple Card generally does not offer a standard publicly available welcome bonus. Although, contrary to that, they are currently offering a bonus of $75 after you spend $75 on the Apple Card, but that is unusual. So I would say Samsung wins this part of the competition pretty easily. Let's now compare the point earning rates on your spending that you earn on the Samsung Card versus the Apple Card. And this is where it gets really interesting. So the Apple Card earns 3% daily cash on purchases made directly from Apple, including hardware, accessories, apps, and services. It also earns 3% through Apple Pay at a limited group of partner merchants, including Uber, Uber Eats, Nike, Walgreens, and ExxonMobil. Apple Card then earns 2% daily cash whenever you use the card through Apple Pay, and then only 1% when you use the physical metal card. On paper, the Samsung Galaxy Card actually beats the Apple Card in several important areas. For purchases made directly from the card's own technology company, Samsung gives you 5%, while Apple gives you 3%. For ordinary mobile wallet purchases, the Samsung Galaxy Card gives you 3% through Samsung Wallet, while the Apple Card gives you 2% through Apple Pay. I think, like I said, this is really the most important part, since 2% cashback cards are everywhere, right? Like the Citi Double Cash that earns 2%, and you don't even have the extra step of using it through a mobile wallet. With the Apple Card, you have to use it through Apple Pay to get that 2%, but the Samsung Card goes a step further and gives you 3%, which very few cards have. A few other examples include the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve. That gives 3 points per dollar on mobile wallet, but it is limited to $5,000 per month in spend, and that card is now closed to new applicants. So if you've got it, good for you, you can still use it, but no one else can apply for it. The Robinhood Gold Card gives 3%, unlimited, but it's only available to Robinhood Gold members, and there is a wait list. So that one's, you know, it's not super easy to get. You can get it, though. So like you see, generally, to get 3% on everything, you have to jump through a few little hoops, and with this Samsung Card, the hoop that you have to jump through is that you have to have a Samsung phone, which, you know, that's something within your control. You can just go out and buy one. And there is actually a high chance that you do already have one, since one in four smartphones sold in the US right now are manufactured by Samsung. Samsung also adds the 2% streaming category, although Apple Card users could already earn 2% on many streaming subscriptions by paying through Apple Pay, where supported. Apple does still have some advantages, though. Apple's daily cash is paid as transactions post, rather than forcing cardholders to wait until the end of the billing cycle. You know, that could be useful if you made an especially large purchase, like, you know, $2,000, and you instantly get $40 back, right, if it's 2%, and you can use it right away. And it can be sent to Apple Cash, applied towards the card's balance, or deposited into the Apple Card savings account. Apple also offers interest-free Apple Card monthly installments on eligible Apple products, while still awarding the 3% daily cash up front, and that could be valuable to someone purchasing an expensive MacBook or an iPhone or an iPad, and who would rather spend the cost out over time. The Apple Card has also been around for several years, so its software experience, its customer service structure, and integration with Apple Wallet are already established. The Galaxy Card is completely new, so we do not know yet how smooth Barclays' and Samsung Wallet's experience will be in practice. There is also one major limitation with both cards. They only make sense if you remain inside the company's ecosystem. To receive the Galaxy Card's most valuable everyday earnings rate, you need the Samsung Wallet, which requires a compatible Samsung device and Samsung account. If you later switch to an iPhone, you could continue using the physical Galaxy Card, but you would lose access to the feature that makes the card so special, that 3% cash back on everything. Apple Card has essentially the same weakness in reverse. Switch from an iPhone to Android, to a Samsung phone, and much of the Apple Wallet experience disappears. You also no longer get 2% through Apple Pay, although that isn't as big of a loss, since there are lots of cards that offer 2% on everything. So which one is better? Well, if you are willing to commit to Samsung's ecosystem, the Samsung Card is clearly better. 5% back on Samsung purchases versus 3% on Apple purchases. 3% through Samsung Wallet is also stronger than Apple Card's standard Apple Pay rate of 2%, and the $200 welcome bonus is more than the current $75 welcome bonus on the Apple Card, although the spender requirement is $2,000, which is kind of high. So is this an Apple Card killer? Well, no. My verdict is that the Samsung Galaxy Card, although better than the Apple Card, is not necessarily an Apple Card killer. One is because Apple has 50% of the US smartphone market. So even if the Samsung Card becomes popular, that's still a lot of people that have Apple devices who would apply for the Apple Card over the Samsung Card. Will some of them switch to Samsung to get the Samsung Card? Well, you know, some might, but I think most won't. And that is because, do you know how obsessed some people are with Apple? I've been here for just over a day. I came here yesterday morning, about four in the morning. This woman rolled up with 16 grand in cash in hand and bought Mark's number one spot in line for 800 bucks. All right, we're doing the reveal. His name's Jack. So I think a lot of people will just stay with the Apple Card because they use an Apple device. They are sworn into the church of Apple. They honor Steve Jobs as their savior. No, I'm just kidding. Well, for some people, it is actually like that. But for some others, it's just about convenience. Like for myself, all right, I use an Apple phone. Would I switch to Samsung just to get the Samsung Card? No, I would not. I like my iPhone. I like the operating system. I don't want to learn a new one. When I switch phones, when I upgrade, I just want to seamlessly transition. I don't want to have to learn new stuff. But what do you think? Would 5% back at Samsung and 3% through Samsung Wallet, so potentially 3% on almost all of your spending, convince you to apply? Or would you rather use a traditional 2% cash back card or the Apple Card? Or maybe you have Robin Hood gold and you can get the Robin Hood gold card, in which case you're sorted for 3% on everything. You don't even have to use mobile wallet. Let me know in the comments below. Personally, I prefer credit cards with multiple categories where I can earn even more than 3%. A card I really like at the moment is the Gemini credit card, okay? That's a card from the Gemini Crypto Exchange. It offers rewards in the cryptocurrency of your choice, 4% back on gas, EV and transit, 3% on dining and 2% on groceries, and then 1% on everything else. I chose Bitcoin as my rewards currency and Bitcoin is down right now at around $60,000 or so per coin. So if it goes back up to its all-time highs, like over $120,000, you'll have earned 8% on gas, 6% on dining, etc. I'll put a link for that card down below if you're interested in checking it out. Please subscribe to the channel if you're new for more credit card news and comparisons, and we'll see you next time. Bye-bye.