As I anticipated in 2018, Apple is indeed teaming up with Goldman Sachs  and will introduce a joint credit card this spring that will provide truly mobile money services to iPhone users.

Apple Watch came too

Of course, support for 21^stCentury challenger bank features on an iPhone should be a shoe-in.

We can also predict some of the kinds of features we might see in such a card – just take a look at the superb Revolut service for some of these.

It offers smart account management, cash withdrawals, fair foreign exchange fees, money sharing and claiming and a range of other useful digital tools. You get complete account management through your iPhone.

It’s a smart system

And it’s the kind of system banks all around the world are struggling to emulate.

Most names in banking are prepared to work with switched on digital services to bring new financial products to market, and Apple has to be seen as akin to one of the biggest fintech startups in the world, albeit a player with around 500,000 users already making use of Apple Pay.

So this is a good alliance for Goldman Sachs.

The new Apple/Goldman Sachs card is expected to enter testing among employees in the next few weeks.

Its features currently include rewards, balance checks and a 2 percent cash back scheme. (The latter could be even higher if used against Apple purchases). It will run on the Mastercard network, rather than on the back of iTunes.

Pay off your credit card to win a badge?

But, there’s more

WSJ claims engineers are considering an Activity app style interface for the card inside of the Apple Wallet app.

This is designed to encourage users to pay down their debts and manage their balances.

The system will also nurture sound financial management with daily targets, notifications and more. Users will also be able to analyse spending habits, tracking spending on groceries, for example.

[amazon_link asins=’1784705764′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’playlistclub-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’fd238e6c-c254-473b-b59d-348a3e7f1240′]

I can’t help but see it as a fitness app for middle-aged people, more concerned about their debt repayments than their waistlines.

Goldman Sachs is spending around $200 million on the new financial product.

Interestingly, the report reveals both giants had considered adding in other financial services, but have as yet declined to do so out of concern for privacy. All the same, it seems pretty clear that you’ll be askig Siri for your car loan sooner, rather than later.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.