Just ahead of Apple Pay’s public release, a top credit card provider, Capital One, has rolled out a new mobile wallet app for cardholders that will work with Apple’s forthcoming mobile payments platform to provide users with detailed information on their Apple Pay transactions, in addition to balance rewards access, and other features.
The app was soft launched on iOS earlier in September, but the company is only officially announcing its debut this morning.
Called Capital One Wallet, the app is surprisingly well-designed for an app coming from a traditional financial institution, whose slow-moving ways tend to lead to subpar personal finance experiences – a situation that a number of startups tend to take advantage of, moving in to offer alternative banking front-ends, like those from Simple or Moven, for example, or credit card management tools like Wallaby’s credit card rewards and savings finder.
Capital One Wallet, however, has a modern look, and features including real-time purchase notifications, transaction details that include business names, locations, contact information for the business, and more – which, combined, make it easier for consumers to quickly spot and report fraudulent charges directly from the app.
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Apple Pay users will also see this same, detailed transaction data for their Apple Pay transactions associated with a Capital One card, whether Debit or Credit.
In addition, for customers using Rewards credit cards, they’re about to access their rewards in the app, and redeem them for travel or statement credit with a swipe. They can also redeem them for e-gift cards that then immediately appear in the wallet, ready for use. (Rewards and notifications are only available to Credit Card customers; Debit Card users see just transaction histories.)
Unlike some apps which use PINs or Apple’s TouchID for sign-in, Capital One’s app is accessed through a feature called SureSwipe, which mimics the log-in pattern-making gestures common on Android phones. To get started, customers will first have to establish online access to their account here on the web, which is a drawback.
The new Capital One Wallet app is live now for iOS, but the company says an Android version is in the works. The app is meant to complement Capital One’s older Mobile App, which offers other features like Bill Pay, not replace it. However, if you’ve already established a SureSwipe pattern for use with that app, it will now work with Capital One Wallet.