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Original ‘Apple Credit’ dealer presentation kit and comprehensive archive of Apple consumer and business financing materials, highlighted by a collection of (7) Apple-issued credit cards representing successive generations of Apple's branded financing programs from the formative years of the Macintosh era to the modern Apple Card. Developed to support Apple dealers and expand access to the company's products, the Apple Credit Plan offered consumers and businesses financing options for the purchase of Apple computers, peripherals, and related equipment through a network of authorized dealers. Spanning more than three decades, the archive traces the progression of Apple's financing initiatives from the original Apple Credit Plan through later business-credit programs, co-branded banking partnerships, and the Goldman Sachs–issued titanium Apple Card.
The ‘Apple Credit’ dealer kit, subtitled “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Apple Credit,” includes: a sample embossed Apple Credit card issued to “Andrew E. Gold”; a General Electric stereo cassette player bearing an Apple rainbow-logo decal, headphones, and Apple Credit audio cassette; a ‘Revolving Charge Payment Estimator’; (2) Apple Credit telephone-reference tags; and (2) Apple Credit stickers. The contents list references an accompanying The Salesperson's Guide to Apple Credit booklet, which is not present.
Supplemental materials related to Apple Credit include:
Apple-issued credit cards
- Collection of (6) additional Apple-issued consumer and business credit cards representing successive generations of Apple's financing programs, including: an Apple Credit card issued to Margaret K. Oleson; a black embossed Apple Business Credit card issued to Frederick J. Lewis, identifying General Electric Credit Corporation as administrator of the program; an Apple Computer, Inc. ‘Preferred Business Customer’ corporate card issued to Aguila Corp-B; Apple Citibank Visa and Mastercard credit cards issued to Bruce and C. C. Overholt; and a Goldman Sachs–issued titanium Apple Card issued to Justin White (Mastercard), retaining its original activation wallet and cardboard box.
Applications, financing documents, and dealer literature
- Apple Credit customer brochure and fold-out application with Retail Charge Account Agreement and finance-charge schedules
- Apple Credit Plan Application booklet
- Apple Credit billing statement dated April 13, 1984, showing a $2,000 credit limit, $1,112.21 purchase balance, and 21.0% APR
- Announcing Apple Commercial Credit dealer brochure, dated July 1986
- Macintosh Plus and Apple Business Credit Card promotional mailer offering financing incentives for qualifying business customers
- January 1984 Own-A-Mac order form and matching Apple Computer invoice documenting the purchase of a Macintosh system through Apple's financing infrastructure
- Introducing the Apple Citibank Card promotional brochure
Apple catalogs and consumer promotional literature
- Original 1984 Take Charge Apple Card brochure introducing Apple's consumer financing program
- Original 1984 Apple IIe brochure, “Why you should buy an Apple II—something instead of an IBM PC-anything,” promoting Apple Credit Card financing through low down payments and deferred payments
- Original 1985 Apple II brochure, At last. An alternative to working hard., advertising the Apple Credit Card as "an accessory that makes an Apple II easy to take home"
- The Apple Catalog, Premier Edition 1992, retaining its original inserted Apple Credit Plan Application booklet
- The Apple Catalog, Fall 1992, prominently advertising Apple Credit's "90 Days Same-As-Cash" financing
Dealer merchandising, point-of-sale, and promotional material
- Apple Authorized Service Provider countertop display sign
- Apple Credit Plan telephone-reference tag preserved in its original unopened packaging (in addition to the pair contained within the dealer presentation kit)
- "What's 90?" Apple Credit promotional lapel pin promoting Apple's "90 Days Same-As-Cash" financing campaign
- Additional Apple Credit promotional and dealer material
In overall fine condition, with expected handling wear throughout.
During the 1980s, the cost of a personal computer represented a significant investment for many consumers and businesses. To make its products more accessible, Apple introduced the Apple Credit Plan, allowing customers to purchase computers and related equipment through revolving-credit accounts and other financing arrangements offered by authorized dealers. As Apple expanded its product lineup and customer base, its financing initiatives evolved through business-credit programs, commercial financing, co-branded banking partnerships with Citibank, and ultimately the titanium Apple Card issued in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard. The materials assembled here document that progression through original dealer-training materials, customer applications, financing records, representative credit cards, promotional brochures, product catalogs, and retail merchandising pieces illustrating how Apple integrated consumer financing into every stage of its sales strategy.
Although Apple's financing initiatives appear throughout the company's sales and marketing materials, they occupy only a small place in most accounts of Apple's history, which understandably focus on its technological innovations. As a result, surviving documentation tracing the development of these programs is seldom encountered as a cohesive group. Bringing together dealer-training materials, original credit cards spanning multiple generations of Apple's financing programs, applications, account records, catalogs, promotional literature, point-of-sale displays, and financing documents, this archive forms an unusually comprehensive record of the evolution of Apple's consumer financing program from its introduction in the Macintosh era to the modern Apple Card.
