Tech giant Apple is reportedly in talks with JPMorgan Chase related to the transfer of Apple Card from Goldman Sachs.
The discussions are still at the early stages and over the months. Negotiations could end up either pushing through and could even go south, depending on the outcome of the talks, NBC News reported citing a person who has knowledge of the discussions.
Some of the primary elements of the deal are still to be discussed. These include questions on whether JPMorgan would retain existing features of the Apple Card, and the price.
The move of Apple came after Goldman Sachs veered away from its retail-banking strategy, thereby resulting in limited options left for the iPhone maker. Goldman, which initially took on the card, was left with losses, along with the need to contend with regulatory scrutiny.
Goldman and Apple were reported to have ended their credit card partnership in 2023, Reuters stated. After failing in its foray into consumer banking, Goldman reverted to its core investment banking and trading. Billions of dollars were lost from the consumer business that its CEO David Solomon was rooting for.
JPMorgan, which is the biggest card issuer by purchase volume in the U.S, is looking at paying less than the face value of approximately $17 billion in loans on the Apple Card. Goldman noted that it was mostly new accounts that incurred the defaults and higher-than-average delinquencies. The bank also noted that overtime, the loss would be easing.
With rising concerns that the economy is headed for a slowdown, issuers have found the Apple Card portfolio less attractive.
The person familiar with the discussions revealed that one of the features that JPMorgan would like to do away with is the calendar-based billing where users would be getting statements at the beginning of the month instead of getting them incrementally. Although this feature benefits customers greatly, it also means service personnel would be faced with a barrage of calls every month.
