Not just anyone qualifies for a new Apple Card — including Apple CEO Tim Cook, according to a new report. The Goldman Sachs underwriting system apparently rejected his application a while back.
Amid reports lately that Goldman is losing money on its deal with Apple, and the two might part ways, it almost sounded like payback. But that’s not it.
Even Tim Cook couldn’t get an Apple Card (for a very short time)
In the months leading up to Apple Card’s release, Cook had his application rejected, according to a report in The Information, as reported by The Apple Post.
“Engineers from the Silicon Valley giant and the Wall Street titan were pulling an all-nighter a few months before launch, scrambling to find a solution to a problem that had cropped up: Tim Cook couldn’t get approved for an Apple Card,” the report said.
An underwriting system like Goldman Sachs’ assesses an applicant’s assets, including income, against debts and other factors.
Rejections can occur because of bad credit or other poor qualifications. But Cook’s rejection came for another reason. Apparently high fraud risk associated with being a high-profile CEO raised a red flag.
“The Goldman Sachs underwriting process rejected his application because he is a high-profile figure that is regularly impersonated, and flags on his credit bureau accounts caused issues,” MacRumors added.
Of course, an exception was made for Apple’s CEO, who ultimately runs Apple Card. He got his Apple Card prior to its launch.
You can make purchases with Apple Card using Apple Pay on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch. Or you can use the optional titanium Apple Card bank card. It’s considered the most secure credit card because it has not number or security code on it.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
