Bank of America tech chief says there’s nothing new about Apple Card

“Bank of America’s technology and operations chief Cathy Bessant isn’t losing sleep over Apple’s new credit card,” Hugh Son reports for CNBC.
“Bessant, who has led the bank’s tech division since 2010, was asked by CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa what her reaction was to Apple’s announcement on Monday,” Son reports. “‘My reaction when I saw the announcement was, first competitively, all of the features that are in that card are offerings we have today,’ Bessant said on Squawk Alley. ‘The card plastic for swiping itself, all the way through to the mobile and electronic wallet.'”
Son reports, “The new service relies on Apple Pay for mobile payments and includes a titanium card for situations where Apple Pay isn’t yet accepted.”
Apple’s physical laser-etched titanium Apple Card
 
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Bessant’s statements remind us of others we’ve heard in the past, including:
• “The Apple Watch is going to flop… The Apple Watch is Jonathan Ive’s Newton… Apple may have built out the watch to satisfy the urges of a designer who has become more obsessed with Bentleys and Rolexes than making attractive, functional technology that will actually make life better for the 99%.” — Mark Wilson, March 2, 2015
• “The Apple Watch cannot compete with any prestigious watch from a prestigious brand. The only thing you might be able to do with your 18k gold Apple Watch is to melt it down and recoup the few grams of gold; end of story! … I welcome the Apple Watch and thank them for helping to promote and prepare the wrist for us in the Swiss watch industry.” — Jean-Claude Biver, September 15, 2014
• “We are not at all worried. We think we’ve got the one mobile platform you’ll use for the rest of your life. [Apple] are not going to catch up.” – Scott Rockfeld, Microsoft Mobile Communications Group Product Manager, April 01, 2008
• “What does the iPhone offer that other cell phones do not already offer, or will offer soon? The answer is not very much.” – Laura Goldman, LSG Capital, May 21, 2007
• Motorola’s then-Chairman and then-CEO Ed Zander said his company was ready for competition from Apple’s iPhone, due out the following month. “How do you deal with that?” Zander was asked at the Software 2007 conference. Zander quickly retorted, “How do they deal with us?” – Ed Zander, May 10, 2007
• “There’s an old saying — stick to your knitting — and Apple is not a mobile phone manufacturer, that’s not their knitting… I think people overreacted to it — there was not a lot of tremendously new stuff if you think about it.” – Greg Winn, Telstra’s operations chief, February 15, 2007
• “[Apple’s iPhone] is the most expensive phone in the world and it doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard which makes it not a very good email machine… So, I, I kinda look at that and I say, well, I like our strategy. I like it a lot.” – Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, January 17, 2007
• “The iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks. In terms of its impact on the industry, the iPhone is less relevant… Apple is unlikely to make much of an impact on this market… Apple will sell a few to its fans, but the iPhone won’t make a long-term mark on the industry.” – Matthew Lynn, Bloomberg, January 15, 2007
• “We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.” – Ed Colligan, Palm CEO, November 16, 2006
• “I give [Apple] two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake.” – David Goldstein, Channel Marketing Corp. President, May 21, 2001