JPMorgan Chase will become the new issuer of Apple’s credit card, absorbing about $20 billion in balances
The deal ends Goldman Sachs’ troubled push into consumer lending
Mastercard will remain the card network, preserving a major payments partnership with Apple
JPMorgan Chase has reached a deal to take over Apple’s credit-card program from Goldman Sachs, further cementing its position as the dominant force in U.S. credit cards and bringing an end to Goldman’s costly experiment in consumer banking.
The nation’s largest bank will become the issuer of the Apple Card, one of the biggest co-branded credit-card programs in the country, with roughly $20 billion in outstanding balances. The companies announced the agreement Wednesday, confirming an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal. The sides had been negotiating for more than a year, according to a Wall Street Journal report..
A closer tie between banking and tech
The agreement draws together two of the most influential companies in finance and technology at a time when payments are increasingly embedded in phones, watches and other devices. JPMorgan gains access to a large and loyal base of Apple customers it can target with additional financial products, while Apple secures a partner with a vast consumer banking operation to help finance device sales.
Mastercard will remain the card’s payment network, fending off competition from Visa and preserving the substantial transaction volume tied to the Apple partnership.
JPMorgan’s plans for Apple customers
As one of the largest credit-card issuers in the country, JPMorgan has decades of experience underwriting and managing card portfolios. Executives have grown confident they can absorb the Apple program and expand it over time, people familiar with the matter said.
JPMorgan will issue Apple cards to both new and existing cardholders. The bank is also planning to launch a new Apple-branded savings account. Customers who currently hold Apple savings accounts at Goldman will be able to choose whether to remain there or move to JPMorgan, the Journal said.
The transition from Goldman to JPMorgan is expected to take about two years.
The end of Goldman’s consumer push
Goldman and Apple launched the Apple Card in 2019 amid significant fanfare, signaling Goldman’s ambition to become a Main Street lender and diversify away from its Wall Street roots. By late 2022, mounting losses and regulatory scrutiny prompted the bank to reverse course and begin unwinding much of its consumer-lending business.
With the JPMorgan deal, Goldman closes a chapter on one of the most ambitious—and expensive—strategic shifts in its history, while JPMorgan deepens its dominance in the fast-evolving world of consumer payments.