A) I'm not sure if this is feasible, but I started using my Apple Pay more on my phone. I get 2% back, and I can pay the amount the next day - its very convenient to do so. A couple clicks, chose my account to pay from, etc.

B) My Schwab money market account paid OK, for being nothing more than a place to hold my cash.

I'd keep some in my regular accounts, so that I can get cash out of the ATM, etc, but I'm thinking about putting it, mainly, in a money market account, and just using it to pay the Apple card. (I realize I would have to check to see what the transaction limits are on the money market accounts.)

Can you link Apple pay to a credit card. If so, I'd just do that, and make one payment before the end of the grace period. And if you link it to a cash back card, you may be able to double dip on rewards (Apple and the card.)

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
My Schwab money market account paid OK, for being nothing more than a place to hold my cash.

I'd keep some in my regular accounts, so that I can get cash out of the ATM, etc, but I'm thinking about putting it, mainly, in a money market account

Is it a money market account, or a money market fund?

Accounts are through banks. If it's through Schwab, which is primarily an investment brokerage, I'm guessing it's probably a fund.

Money Market Accounts are bank accounts, and are FDIC protected. These are basically equivalent to high yield savings accounts. I would have no qualms against keeping money in that. Just look out for things like monthly withdrawal limits and account balance minimum requirements.

Money Market Funds are mutual fund investments, using money from a brokerage account. These are not FDIC insured, but are still safer than just about any other type of brokerage investments. I wouldn't put all my money in one of these, because while the chances are slim, they do occasionally fail and cost their investors money. They typically maintain $1/share, and as along as that remains true, it's equivalent to something like deposits in a bank account in that they can be withdrawn quickly and simply like the dollars in a bank account. But if things go sideways with the market, they can potentially drop below $1/share or even possibly have to liquidate and shut down, and you risk losing some of your money. See the Reserve Primary Fund, which was a Money Market Fund that crashed in 2008.

In addition, it's important to recognize that many Money Market Funds have the ability to impose fees and gates during times of high volatility (like market crashes and fund runs). This means that if you go to try to withdraw some money from your Money Market Fund to pay off your Apple Pay during a period of economic turmoil, you could be faced with either being temporarily locked out of withdrawals for a set period (because they've "closed the gate" on withdrawals for the next X number of days in the hopes that the market stabilizes), or only being able to make a withdrawal by paying a certain percentage in extra penalty fees. Not all Money Market Funds have the ability to impose fees and gates, but many (most?) do.

But in exchange for this small-but-not-zero risk of losing or not being able to access your money, Money Market Funds are attractive for a portion of your money, because they typically return more than a bank's Money Market Account, and certainly way more than a savings account.

Basically, do your research and read the fine print about fees and gates before you dump a bunch of your money in a Money Market Fund, and maintain a portion of your money in a separate bank account. But as long as you're comfortable with that small risk of losing money, and have the ability to cover your Apple Pay balance through alternate means if you can't get to your Money Market Fund money due to fees/gates being imposed temporarily, that plan could work.

A little confusing here. Not sure whether Aglifter is referring to the Apple card, or to Apple Pay linked to a non-Apple card.

In either case, the "double dip" that BBMW refers to, is not applicable.

If Apple card, that gives cash back.

If Apple pay linked to another card, any cash back would come from the linked card, none from using Apple pay. Example, I have my Costco cash back card linked to Apple pay. I get the cash back from Costco, no cash back from Apple.

I believe he's talking about using the Apple Card, with Apple Pay, and using his money market <whatever> to pay off the card balance.

As an aside: The Apple Card doesn't accrue interest unless you carry a balance past month-end. I just wait until a few days before the payment's due and pay off the entire balance in one go.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Money Market Accounts are bank accounts, and are FDIC protected. These are basically equivalent to high yield savings accounts. I would have no qualms against keeping all my money in that. Just look out for things like monthly withdrawal limits and account balance minimum requirements.

Additionally, Money Market Accounts are limited to six “pajama withdrawal transactions” per month. A pajama transaction is one that you can do from the comfort of your home in your pajamas. Writing a check or transferring online to another account are both “pajama withdrawal transactions.” There are probably others. If you exceed six in a month (statement cycle?), you get dinged with a fee. If you consistently exceed six your account can be closed or kicked out of money market status. Strangely, you can go into the bank and make as many transfers as you want with no limits. According to our banker, this is federal law.

OK. Its an Apple Card. And, I'll keep the limit on the frequency of payments in mind.

I didn't know when interest started accruing so I've just been paying it off the next day.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
OK. Its an Apple Card. And, I'll keep the limit on the frequency of payments in mind.

I didn't know when interest started accruing so I've just been paying it off the next day.

Your payment is due when the new statement is issued. It is probably set up as Autopay from your MM account. Mine is set up for the last day of the month. There is no interest assessed unless you don't pay the entire amount (override Autopay) There is no benefit in paying early as there's no interest on the current balance and you are taking money out of your MM account that does provide some interest, albeit a tiny bit. It's really difficult to "game" the system when working with the likes of Goldman Sachs.

With the Apple card, everything I put on it this month of March, isn't due (or accrue interest) until the last day of April. So pay it off then and that's all you need to worry about.

It's actually a really good card to use...

I use Apple Pay linked to an Apple Card everywhere I can

Pay it off before the end of the month

Apple Card billing cycle is from the 1st of each month to the last day of the month. No crazy 23 day “trap” cycles or the like

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
I didn't know when interest started accruing so I've just been paying it off the next day.

ISTM signing contracts without reading the terms of said contracts is a good way to get into trouble.

 
Downside of the Apple physical card is it only gives back 1%. Using Apple Pay with the virtual Apple card on your phone gives 2%, some places more (buying Apple stuff, e.g., gives 3%).