Hi everyone. Welcome to the A6 and Z podcast. I'm Sonal and this is our seventh episode of 16 Minutes, our news show, which in addition to our regular podcast show in this feed is where we cover recent headlines of the week, The A6 and Z way, why they're in the news, why they matter from our vantage point in tech and share experts views on the trends involved. You can catch up on past episodes at A6NZ.com slash 16

minutes or subscribe to the 16 minutes show directly wherever you get your audio. And to be clear,

none of the following should be taken as investment advice. Please be sure to see A6NZ.com slash

disclosures for more important information. This week, we cover two topics. We briefly discussed the latest news from the front lines of cyber fraud,

where the FBI made a huge number of arrests for VEC scams

in what was described as one of the largest cases of its kind in U.S. history.

But first, we go deep on the new Apple credit card.

What it means beyond the headlines.

Okay, so the first news item we're covering this week is that Apple released a credit card, and it was actually announced a while ago,

but only became available this week to U.S. iPhone users. And let me quickly summarize the news,

and then I'll introduce our A6 and Z expert. They're partnering at Goldman Sachs as the issuing bank

and MasterCard for the Global Payments Network. The card, which is of course coated white, is made of titanium, but that's

still heavier than other plastic cards in the market. And by the way, a funny little anecdote

here is that Verge reported via Mac rumors that Apple is advising against keeping the card in a leather

wallet or in direct contact with denim as such fabrics, and I quote,

might cause permanent discoloration that will not wash off. That part's pretty LOL. That said,

it is news that Apple, a tech company, is moving into financial services. And this matters in the

bigger picture of credit, which drives personal finance and our economy overall in so many

ways for better or worse. So let me quickly also summarize some of the salient details here.

There are no typical credit card fees such as sign-up fees, late fees, international fees,

annual fees, overdraft fees, et cetera.

And there are other features such as greater transparency into interest paid and so on.

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