Goldman Sachs is currently considering an action plan to complete the partnership program with Apple.
The media, citing people who are aware of this process, report that one of the world’s largest investment financial institutions is currently negotiating with American Express on the sale of an Apple credit card and other joint ventures with the technology giant.
At the end of last year, the bank announced its intentions to wind down its consumer business. But then the commitment of the financial institution to continue cooperation with Apple was traced. The bank even extended the partnership program with the technology giant until the end of this decade. The financial institution also agreed to support Apple’s Buy Now, Pay Later offer and opened a bank account with the iPhone manufacturer.
Media sources claim that the bank is currently negotiating the transfer of joint ventures with the technology giant and its partnership with Amex credit cards. They also state that during the negotiation process, attention was paid to the issue of transferring the card cooperation of Goldman Sachs with General Motors Amex or another issuer.
Sources note that the deal with Amex is a solution that can potentially be implemented but does not belong to the category of guaranteed business events of the highest possible probability. Also, this commercial agreement is not inevitable, taking into account the specifics of external conditions and the position of the participants in the relevant process. In addition, the implementation of the transaction takes time.
Apple would have to agree to the transfer of joint ventures. Sources claim that the tech giant is aware of the negotiation process, which began several months ago and continues to this day.
For Goldman Sachs, the termination of the partnership with Apple and the rejection of credit cards is the end of the business of consumer lending money. The financial institution has already stopped lending services. The bank is also attempting to sell GreenSky, a home improvement lender. This organization became part of the ownership structure of Goldman Sachs only last year.
Also, for a financial institution, the termination of cooperation with Apple cancels plans to turn into a bank providing full-spectrum services.
Goldman Sachs currently occupies a dominant position on Wall Street in the field of investment banking and trading. The lender first entered Main Street with its high-yield Marcus savings account in 2016. Three years later, the financial institution entered the business with credit cards. This expansion is the result of a partnership with Apple.
Goldman Sachs quickly became a bidder for co-branded credit card deals. The lender has entered the territory of such megabanks as JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, with giant consumer divisions.
At the end of last year, after an internal audit, the financial institution decided to reduce its consumer ambitions. In February, the media reported that the bank had completed negotiations with T-Mobile on the launch of a credit card and decided to curtail the activity of bidding for new programs.
Against the background of a reduction in the scale of activities and a reduction in efforts, even at the level of potentially possible projects, Goldman Sachs’ interaction with Apple seemed solid and unshakable. Back in October last year, the executive director of the financial institution, David Solomon, during a telephone conversation with analysts, called cooperation with the technology giant a strong partnership with many opportunities.
In January of this year, Goldman Sachs reported that since 2020, the lender has lost about $3 billion due to efforts to stimulate consumer lending.
If the lender exits the credit card business and sells GreenSky, its consumer business will return to a limited scale and narrow down to the original product, which is a savings account, Marcus. The financial institution stated that there are no plans to complete the acceptance of consumer deposits.
As we have reported earlier, Goldman Sachs Spinoff Louisa Expands Availability of Corporate Networking Platform.
