After debuting over 6 years ago, Apple Card has been a little bit of a nightmare for its partner bank, Goldman Sachs. They’re looking to exit, and while rumors aren’t crystal clear on the future of Apple Card, we’ll be recapping them here.
Goldman Sachs losses
First and foremost, Goldman Sachs is looking to offload the Apple Card partnership – and the top contender, per recent reports, is JPMorgan Chase.
American Express, Capital One, and Synchrony have also been rumored contenders. At the moment, though, they don’t seem to be likely to take over the partnership. Amex CEO Stephen Squeri commented on the potential takeover back in 2023:
“Because that’s what you want a co-brand partnership for, is the distribution, as well,” Squeri said. “And does it add value to both brands? And do you create premium economics? So, as we evaluate partnerships, that’s the lens that we use.”
Many people interpreted this as him shooting down the idea, as Apple Card’s current customer base contains a lot of subprime customers. So far, the Apple Card partnership has cost Goldman Sachs at least $1 billion, with total Goldman Sachs consumer product losses totaling $6 billion.
Granted, not all of those losses come purely from credit delinquencies. Apple Card is also a very generous product offering, with no foreign transaction fees, no late fees, no returned payment fees, up to 3% cash back on partner merchants, and 0% APR financing on Apple products.
JPMorgan Chase takeover
Right now, JPMorgan Chase is the “preferred choice” for taking over the Apple Card partnership, per The Wall Street Journal. This report is from July, though it serves as the latest news.
That said, a deal is yet to be signed. One of the key challenges with the takeover is Apple Card’s high percentage of subprime customers.
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