Activating your Apple Card will be insanely simple

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Apple Card activation 2
Apple Card is going to be a beautifully simple user experience.
Photo: 9to5Mac

One thing I’ve long loved about Apple products is how easy they are to setup. There’s no scouring incomprehensible user manuals. Simply turn a new device on and you’ll be using it within minutes.

That same philosophy sounds like it’ll be carried over to Apple Card, the company’s first (well, second) ever credit card.

According to information found by 9to5Mac in the first iOS 12.3 beta, the titanium Apple Card will be activated in a very similar way to Apple’s current AirPods or HomePod smart speaker. Specifically, users will simply lay the card near to their iPhone and it will be recognized. Once this is done, you’ll just tap “activate” on your iPhone and you’re ready to go.

That is certainly in keeping with the minimalist design of the physical card. Aside from a laser-etched name and an engraved Apple logo, the card doesn’t feature any identifying information. All of that is stored in your iPhone, which will also be used for making most of your payments.

How will this be achieved?

There’s one intriguing detail to the new activation process, however. According to those who should know about these things, the physical Apple Card won’t include an NFC chip for contactless payments. That means that you won’t be able to tap it on an NFC terminal in-store to pay for things if, for instance, your iPhone dies. That makes sense since the Apple Card is built around paying with your iPhone.

But it does rise the question of how this pairing process will be achieved. Maybe someone with knowledge about this could speculate in the comments below. Could it be that Apple will include a dedicated chip inside solely with the purpose of pairing the card with your iPhone?

Either way, it’s great to see that Apple is seemingly dedicated to making the Apple Card experience as straightforward as any of its other products.

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