Tag Archives: money

Samsung Drops Apple Card Rival with 5% Cashback Ahead of Unpacked

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Samsung and Apple have been known to take a leaf out of each other’s book when it comes to features and product design. Now the South Korean giant has done something that Apple has already been offering its users. After much speculation and rumors, the Samsung Galaxy Card is finally revealed for U.S. users.

Samsung already offers the Samsung Card in its native region, but this is the first time they’ve come up with a credit card in the West. Offered via Barclays on the Visa network, the branded credit card is more or less the same as the Apple Card in terms of the perks and financing options being offered. For early adopters, the card will be offered free of cost with no hidden annual charges.

Designer: Samsung

Samsung wants to take the fight to Apple; therefore, they’re offering more cashback discounts, which should lure in users who are stuck between deciding to go for the Apple or Samsung ecosystem. The card is integrated into the Samsung Wallet, as it prompts users to tie in more deeply into the ecosystem. You can manage payments, IDs, digital keys, or passes. Surprisingly, this comes ahead of the Galaxy Unpacked event slated for the Z Fold 8’s release, signaling the consumer electronics company’s affinity for going far beyond just hardware innovations. This move at this time of the year also signals a stronger push by Samsung to engage users before major events. Let’s be honest, people are upgrading their devices and gadgets less frequently, as hardware has become difficult to differentiate from the competition.

Coming back to the Galaxy Card, any purchases made on Samsung products directly will earn a cashback of 5 percent. Any spending done using the Samsung Wallet gets users a 3 percent cashback. The cardholders are also eligible for a 20 percent discount on the VIP Advantage, as well as the Samsung membership and extended warranty program. If any eligible OTT subscriptions, including Netflix, Disney+, or Spotify, are made, the cashback earned is 2 percent. For any other purchases, the cashback is 1 percent.

Knox security layer is embedded into the card’s ecosystem to ensure all the financial information remains securely on the Galaxy devices. The credit card can be acquired starting July 22, and Samsung will offer a $200 bonus cashback reward on purchases of $2,000 or more made in the first 90 days. The card is offered in virtual and premium metal physical versions. Existing Samsung users will like the prospect of it, as more cashbacks mean more savings. Anyone switching their ecosystem from Apple to Samsung for the higher cashbacks is less likely, though.

The post Samsung Drops Apple Card Rival with 5% Cashback Ahead of Unpacked first appeared on Yanko Design.

Smart piggy bank concept brings the Bitcoin feeling to physical coins

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Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and its cousins were supposed to revolutionize the way the world sees and uses money, but it will take more than just a few revolutionary ideas to change a system that has been in place for centuries, even millennia. That said, the craze did reveal a few advantageous features, particularly the handling of money through digital wallets. Of course, the latter only makes sense for the money you’ve already “digitized” through banks, digital or otherwise, not so much for the money you still have at hand. That’s especially true for coins that are often chucked into containers, presuming they don’t get lost, and are almost forgotten. This concept design for a “smart piggy bank”, however, gives importance to every dime and penny, allowing you to really see where your money is going, even if still exists in physical form.

Designer: Guilherme Ferreira, Pietro Vitelo, Gustavo Billo (Breathe Design & Strategy)

Digital wallets that let you monitor the flow of your money have been around for a long time now, but it wasn’t until the cryptocurrency craze became mainstream that people started to realize the benefits that such a system has to offer. In particular, it gave people more direct control over the money they have in their accounts, especially when it comes to monitoring how much goes in and out of their savings. Real physical coins, however, aren’t as easy to handle and they often get dropped anywhere and lost, money that could have added up to big savings over time.

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Smart Piggy is a concept that upgrades the iconic pink piggy bank into something fit for the 21st century. In a nutshell, sensors on the slot at the top of the pig-shaped device detect when a coin is inserted and pass this information to a connected smartphone. The mobile app, which is actually the center of the whole experience, is where users get to monitor the comings and goings of their savings, particularly those from the Smart Piggy. It’s a simple feature that has a significant impact on user behavior, encouraging people to actually pay attention to where those coins go.

The concept does leave a few details open to interpretation, like how the system will be able to identify different coin denominations. It also doesn’t mention anything about taking out coins from the piggy bank, so presumably, the coin detection and monitoring is a one-way street. Still, it touches on the possibility of an implementation that can take into account both cash flows, so to speak, giving people not only the tools they need to keep track of those coins but also the motivation to actually pay attention to where they go.

The post Smart piggy bank concept brings the Bitcoin feeling to physical coins first appeared on Yanko Design.