In August 2019, Apple broadens its ecosystem with the introduction of its own credit card: Apple Card. Apple has partnered with Goldman Sachs to provide the credit card and with Mastercard to use their network to process the payments. The card is directly linked to Apple Pay and can be accessed within your iPhone via the Wallet app. In the Wallet app you can make payments, check your balance and see your transactions. Next to that, they also provide a physical card which is featured in titanium instead of plastic.

On their website they present the card as: “The simplicity of Apple. In a credit card.” They state that they completely reinvented the credit card, by providing distinct features that other credit cards cannot offer. According to Apple some benefits are that you don’t pay any fees, their lower interest rates and daily cash backs. With the latter they mean that when you pay with your Apple Card, you will receive a percentage of your purchase back on your account. Moreover, the Apple Card would also be a better choice when looking into privacy and security issues. Since, the combination of unique transaction codes, FaceID and Touch ID will make sure that you’re the only one who can access the card and your data. In addition, they provide their Apple Card holder with budget tools in which their spendings are highly visualized int the Wallet app.

If you want to apply for a Apple Card, you only have to add the card to your Wallet app and fill in some personal details. It’s currently only possible to request an Apple Card in the US, however rumors go that by the end of 2020 the card will also be available in other countries.

Would you consider to swap your current credit card for an Apple Card if it will be available in your country?

References:
https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/tech/artikel/5183489/creditcard-apple-binnenkort-wereldwijd-verkrijgbaar
https://www.apple.com/apple-card/
https://www.macrumors.com/guide/apple-card/

Rotterdam is the first city in the Netherlands to launch a crowd management progressive web-app based on objective real time data. The app is an initiative of the municipality of Rotterdam to make it easier for residents to avoid busy places in the city. Since we are still not back to pre-Corona times, so they want to provide their residents with an application which helps them to go out safely.

Spotr is based on three data sources:

1. BAG (Key Register of Addresses and Buildings) data, which static data like street and addresses.
2. Data from Resono. Resono is a company that possess a lot of anonymous data which they use to measure busy locations in the Netherlands. Their data or what they call their ‘mobile panel’ comes from app users who have given Resono the permission to share their location data for aggregation analysis purposes. They measure busy areas through summing up the number of smartphones in an area, which is their reference for the amount of people in an area. They estimate the number of smartphones by counting the number of specific app users. Buienradar is an example of an app in which users could give Resono the permission to use their location data anonymously.
3. Open Street Map data, which uses data about areas and places from addresses, photos and phone numbers.

The data from BAG and Open Street Map are combined to form a map of the city. They have divided the city into 500 distinct areas like for example; parks, shopping areas and neighborhoods. The data from Resono is the real-time data which is being refreshed every 15 minutes to calculate the busyness of an area.

How does it work for the users?
Currently Spotr is only available through its web-app, since it’s still in its test phase. However, it’s already possible to see: an overview of less crowded places in the city and to search for less busy places in a specific category for example, parks. The app indicates with the use of colours which are the busy areas in the city.

Are you going to use Spotr?

References:

• https://spotrotterdam.nl
• https://www.rotterdam.nl/wonen-leven/spotr/
• https://app.spotrotterdam.nl
• https://reso.no