What a difference a year makes! Or in the case of a financial partnership between Apple and Goldman Sachs, four years make! According to a recent story in The Wall Street Journal, the tech giant and financial goliath, which had combined forces in 2019 to launch a credit card program featuring the Apple Card, are planning on ending the partnership.
The demise would not only affect the Apple Card program but also other consumer partnerships. For example, the two had plans to move beyond credit cards. In fact, just a little more than a year ago, there had been plans to roll out a new savings account program. But these all now appear to be canceled.
At the moment, there’s also no word if Apple has a new partner lined up to take over issuing a consumer credit card or work together on other related consumer partnerships. However, the current partnership will end in about 12-to-15 months, according to the story in the Wall Street Journal.
Does Apple have a new partner lined up for the Apple Card program?
The news is a disappointment for both Apple and Goldman Sachs since both parties seemed to have high hopes for the partnership: Apple was using it to expand its services division. Goldman Sachs was using it to help build up its financial offerings for consumers, instead of just big corporations and wealthy investors, which The Wall Street Journal noted were its "core clients."
When the Apple Card credit card program was launched in 2019, it was marketed as "a more user-friendly and secure alternative in a crowded market." It would also "charge no fees, pay daily cash rewards, and sync with consumers’ iPhones to analyze their spending." That optimism continued well into late 2022: Just a little over a year ago, Goldman Sachs extended the partnership through 2029.
However, despite this optimism, there were signs that the partnership might be in peril. This past June, there was news that Goldman Sachs had been looking to offload Apple Pay to American Express, despite the earlier extension of the partnership. Then, last month, The Wall Street Journal ran a story on how Goldman Sachs wanted out of all its consumer lending products, which included Apple Card.
