Steve Jobs first proposed an Apple credit card in 2004
The Apple Card announced this spring isn’t a new idea; it was first floated well over a decade ago. This came as a proposal by then-CEO Steve Jobs made so long ago it would have offered users rewards in the form of free iTunes music to load onto their iPods.
A blog post published today by Ken Segall describes the early version of Apple’s credit card. Segall is a former Apple ad man who worked closely with Steve Jobs for more than a dozen years. He is the guy who put the “i” in iMac and worked on the famous “Think Different” campaign.
Even back when Jobs first proposed it, the credit card would have been dubbed the Apple Card. And rather than offering cash back for purchases, it would have given shoppers something Apple had in abundance in 2004: music.