“Cards are basically a commodity at the end of the day; how you differentiate them is really what makes the difference,” says Riley. “That’s really the big issue here: how you use your card.” Riley has one card for making purchases and another for transactions on Amazon; All of these steps will help you earn the most points.

“One of the big challenges here with rewards is that, very often, you go in with good intentions and you don’t get the full benefit of the rewards because you start spinning the product,” Riley says, meaning cardholders start accruing interest on the unpaid balance, and the interest charges eliminate the value earned from the rewards.

Riley points out one of the failures of the Apple Card: Apple oversold it. It’s clever, yes, but it never became a widespread challenge for the credit card industry because the average consumer typically has three or four cards per household: one for all their purchases, one for emergencies and another that might focus on travel.

NerdWallet credit card expert Sara Rathner echoed that sentiment. “The Apple Card is nowhere near the iPhone in terms of changing the world,” Rathner says. “It’s okay; it’s a cash back card.” All of these cards exist to create brand loyalty, he says. If you have a lot of points with Hyatt, you’ll be more likely to book a stay at a Hyatt property on your next trip. If you make a lot of purchases with Samsung Wallet, that might incentivize you to get the Galaxy Card.

Rathner says the 3 percent cash reward for purchases using the Samsung Wallet app is a really good rate. If you tap to pay at the New York City subway turnstile with Samsung Wallet on your phone, for example, that’s 3 percent on each ride, and “that would be compelling.”

While Rathner finds the Apple Card disappointing, he credits Apple for innovating on certain features. For example, Apple lets you see the interest rate and credit rate you’d qualify for before you apply for credit, something other credit cards increasingly offer. The app (and card) are beautifully designed, the physical card is easy to activate with just a tap on the iPhone, and cash rewards are posted daily instead of waiting for a billing cycle.

“I think if other cards want to compete in that way and also follow suit with those features, I think that just makes credit cards in general better products for consumers,” Rathner says. “We’ll see how this resonates with people who have Samsung phones.”