Apple Daily Cash is the cashback rewards program built into Apple Card. Instead of accumulating points or waiting until your billing cycle ends, you earn cash back on every purchase and receive it the same day the transaction posts to your account. The rewards range from 1% to 3% depending on where and how you pay.
How Much You Earn
Daily Cash works on a three-tier system based on the merchant and payment method:
- 3% back: Purchases from Apple (including the App Store, Apple stores, and Apple subscriptions) and purchases at select partner merchants when you pay with Apple Pay.
- 2% back: Any purchase where you use Apple Card through Apple Pay, regardless of the merchant.
- 1% back: Any purchase made with the physical titanium Apple Card.
The gap between 2% and 1% matters more than it sounds. If you spend $2,000 a month on the physical card, you’d earn $20. The same spending through Apple Pay would earn $40. That difference adds up to $240 over a year, so using Apple Pay wherever it’s accepted is worth the effort.
Which Merchants Qualify for 3%
Beyond Apple’s own stores and services, a rotating list of partner merchants offer 3% back when you pay with Apple Card through Apple Pay. Current partners include Nike, Walgreens, Ace Hardware, Uber, Uber Eats, Exxon and Mobil gas stations, ChargePoint EV charging stations, Hertz car rentals, and Booking.com (through a dedicated cardholder link). Some of these work in-store, online, and through the merchant’s app. Others have specific requirements, like Exxon and Mobil, where you pay at the pump through the Exxon Mobil Rewards+ app rather than tapping your phone on the pump reader.
The 3% tier only applies when you pay through Apple Pay. Using the physical titanium card or manually entering your card number at checkout drops you to the 1% tier, even at a partner merchant. Apple also occasionally runs limited-time bonus Daily Cash promotions with other retailers, which appear in the Daily Cash Hub inside the Wallet app.
When You Get Paid
Most credit card rewards programs make you wait until your statement closes before you can touch your cash back. Daily Cash works differently. You can redeem it as soon as the transaction posts to your account, which typically happens within a day or two of the purchase. There’s no minimum redemption threshold and no expiration date on accumulated rewards.
Where Your Daily Cash Goes
You choose one destination for all your Daily Cash. It cannot be split between multiple accounts. Your three options:
- Apple Cash card: Your Daily Cash lands in your Apple Cash balance inside the Wallet app. From there, you can spend it with Apple Pay anywhere, send it to friends and family through Messages, or transfer it to your bank account.
- Savings account: Apple offers a high-yield savings account through Goldman Sachs, available right in the Wallet app. When you open this account, all future Daily Cash automatically deposits there and starts earning interest. You can check your APY and interest earned directly in the app.
- Statement credit: If you don’t set up either Apple Cash or the Savings account, your Daily Cash accumulates and can be applied as a credit toward your Apple Card balance when you pay your bill. This is the default if you take no action.
You can switch between these destinations at any time. If you initially chose the Savings account but decide you’d rather have spending money in Apple Cash, a quick change in settings redirects all future rewards.
The Savings Account Option
When you open the Apple Card Savings account, you’re automatically opting in to have all Daily Cash deposited there. This is a feature, not a bug. The idea is that your rewards quietly compound over time rather than getting spent on small purchases. You can also deposit additional money into the Savings account beyond your Daily Cash, up to certain limits.
The account is FDIC-insured through Goldman Sachs and has no fees, no minimum balance, and no minimum deposit. The APY has fluctuated since launch, so check the current rate in your Wallet app before assuming what you’ll earn. Even at a competitive rate, the interest on Daily Cash alone will be modest unless you’re also parking larger sums in the account.
What You Need to Use Daily Cash
Daily Cash is automatic for every Apple Card holder. You don’t need to activate it, opt in, or track categories. Every purchase earns rewards at the appropriate tier. To get the most out of it, though, you need an iPhone with Apple Pay set up, since the 2% and 3% tiers require Apple Pay transactions. If you rely mainly on the physical card, you’ll be stuck at 1% on everything outside of direct Apple purchases.
To use the Apple Cash or Savings destinations, you need to set up those accounts separately in the Wallet app. Apple Cash requires identity verification. The Savings account requires a brief application, also handled within the Wallet app. If you skip both, your rewards still accumulate as statement credits, so nothing is lost.
How Daily Cash Compares to Traditional Rewards
The main advantage of Daily Cash is simplicity. There are no rotating bonus categories to activate each quarter, no points-to-dollars conversion to calculate, and no annual fee eating into your rewards. The 2% base rate on Apple Pay purchases is competitive with other no-annual-fee cash back cards, and the instant availability of rewards is genuinely faster than most competitors.
The limitation is flexibility. You can only earn 3% at a handful of specific merchants, and the 1% rate on physical card purchases is below average for a primary spending card. If most of your shopping happens at merchants that don’t accept Apple Pay, or if you prefer using a physical card, the effective return drops significantly. Daily Cash works best for people who already pay for most things with their phone.