Apple in conversations with Goldman Sachs to launch Apple Pay branded credit card

Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2018
Apple and Goldman Sachs appear on the cusp of releasing an new credit card, sporting the Apple Pay brand.

Apple Pay on macOS


According to sources familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal, the card from the pair of industry giants is coming at some point early in 2019. The effort, if it launches, will replace Apple's existing Barclay's rewards card.

Apple and Goldman are still discussing the matter, and working out terms and conditions for consumers. Apple's current Barclay's offering provides interest-free financing on Apple devices, and also grants Apple gift cards with enough paid purchases.

The initiative between Apple and Goldman Sachs would be the second one discovered this year. Instead of just assisting Apple with debt sale and other financial matters, the Goldman Sachs is also looking to offer loans to consumers and enterprise for Apple products, instead of just offering a high-interest credit card.

Apple's current iPhone Upgrade Program is still funded through Citizens Financial Group and is in essence a zero-interest loan. Other credit options available through Apple are at higher interest rates, from 14.9 percent all the way up to 26 percent.

Neither Apple nor Goldman Sachs have commented on either matter.

Revenue from consumer credit would further grow services

Apple's services business is credited for smoothing out concerns about seasonality in iPhone, Mac, and iPad sales. Apple doesn't share Apple Pay's contribution to that figure, but any revenue generated from a credit card would be included.

"We had all time record revenue from the App Store, from Apple Music, from iCloud, from Apple Pay and more," said Apple CEO Tim Cook during the most recent earnings announcement. "All of which are a powerful illustration of the importance of our huge active installed base of devices and the loyalty and engagement of our customers."





Also from the earnings report, Apple shared that Apple Pay doubled active users and tripled transactions year-over-year, driven by expanded transit access in some Chinese and Japanese markets -- and a branded credit card would only serve to increase awareness of the digital payment service that would be associated with it. Norway, Poland and Ukraine will get Apple Pay next.

In January, Apple Pay Vice President Jennifer Bailey said that the Apple Pay service was available in 50% of retail stores in the U.S., an increase of only 3 percent when the service launched in 2014.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 48
    Not happy about Apple getting into bed with Bankster #1, Government Sachs. I'll spare you the details, but the info is out there for anyone interested.

    There are better outfits to deal with.

    I would rather Apple set up a Bank as a separate but wholly owned subsidiary. They can then hire people who share the values of the company.
    edited May 2018 lovemnrob53gregg thurmantapeteberndogtoysandmecornchiplolliverpatchythepirate
  • Reply 2 of 48
    KevinBFKevinBF Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    I thought Apple Pay was an safer alternative to using credit cards?
    JinTechpatchythepirate
  • Reply 3 of 48
    kkqd1337kkqd1337 Posts: 423member
    Apple is becoming a very insidious.

    They claim to be a socially moral company but continue to amass more and more cash for what reason? It stinks of exploitation.

    I think their worst behaviour is their claim to be chartiable with ‘product Red’. If they really wanted to make money for charity they wouldnt wait 2 years to introduce the colour on a legacy iPhone, long after the bulk of the sales have happened.
    [Deleted User]
  • Reply 4 of 48
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Not happy about Apple getting into bed with Bankster #1, Government Sachs. I'll spare you the details, but the info is out there for anyone interested.

    There are better outfits to deal with.

    I would rather Apple set up a Bank as a separate but wholly owned subsidiary. They can then hire people who share the values of the company.
    Ive been suggesting pretty much the same thing for a while. Apple has on their board of directors Sue Wagner, one of the founders of BlackRock, which is THE world’s largest asset management company. They have the people in place to spin-off their own bank or credit union. It would then be a natural to have their own credit card, their own financing for Apple product purchases (think Apple Car loans also), and so on. 

    And they could probably even offer 3-4% interest rates on savings accounts, which would instantly make them the best bank (or credit union) around.
    edited May 2018 lovemnrob532old4funtapeteberndogtoysandmecornchippatchythepirate
  • Reply 5 of 48
    minisu1980minisu1980 Posts: 132member
    Yeah they are a bunch of crooks, almost anyone else would have been preferable in terms of ethics. Apple purchases for businesses with favorable terms over traditional financing might be intersting. 
  • Reply 6 of 48
    eideardeideard Posts: 428member
    No one around knowledgable in economics, this morning, eh? Left or Right.
    gregg thurmanmike1anantksundaramcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 48
    mikethemartianmikethemartian Posts: 1,281member
    Not happy about Apple getting into bed with Bankster #1, Government Sachs. I'll spare you the details, but the info is out there for anyone interested.

    There are better outfits to deal with.

    I would rather Apple set up a Bank as a separate but wholly owned subsidiary. They can then hire people who share the values of the company.
    If Apple created their own bank they would have to deal with lots of regulators like FDIC, OCC and Fed Reserve.
    tgr1entropyscornchiplolliverpatchythepirate
  • Reply 8 of 48
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,239member
    As for Apple Pay, I continue to see merchants who either have it turned off, don’t have it programmed properly (UHaul), or still haven’t changed hardware to even accept chipped cards. I also know lots of people who own iPhones who don’t know what it is and haven’t even set up Touch ID. Most of this has nothing to do with Apple. 
  • Reply 9 of 48
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,019member
    KevinBF said:
    I thought Apple Pay was an safer alternative to using credit cards?
    My thoughts exactly. Doesn't having a physical card defeat the sole purpose of ApplePay?
    cornchipgatorguy
  • Reply 10 of 48
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,273member
    JinTech said:
    KevinBF said:
    I thought Apple Pay was an safer alternative to using credit cards?
    My thoughts exactly. Doesn't having a physical card defeat the sole purpose of ApplePay?
    Nothing says you can't load the card into Wallet and use it that way, but now Apple is in the credit card game. Doesn't matter how you actually do the transaction.
    cornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 48
    nunzynunzy Posts: 662member
    JinTech said:
    KevinBF said:
    I thought Apple Pay was an safer alternative to using credit cards?
    My thoughts exactly. Doesn't having a physical card defeat the sole purpose of ApplePay?
    This is going backwards in terms of tech.

    However, my guess is that having a branded card can be very profitable.
  • Reply 12 of 48
    eideard said:
    No one around knowledgable in economics, this morning, eh? Left or Right.
    Doesn’t appear to be. 

    When ApplePay first launched I thought it would morph into a full fledged credit “card”.  Instead of earning 1% to 2% per year on its cash, Apple could earn 1% per month, while under cutting VISA, MasterCard et al.   OIE would expand by about 10X to 15X. 
  • Reply 13 of 48
    rob53 said:
    As for Apple Pay, I continue to see merchants who either have it turned off, don’t have it programmed properly (UHaul), or still haven’t changed hardware to even accept chipped cards. I also know lots of people who own iPhones who don’t know what it is and haven’t even set up Touch ID. Most of this has nothing to do with Apple. 
    I started using Pay after I got an Apple Watch, and I now use it wherever it works. I've never seen anyone else use it. Maybe I need to shop more.
    GeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 48
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,273member
    Doesn't say if it would be a Visa/MC/Amex card, so it's use in the world would be limited to Apple Pay transactions and Apple Store purchases.
    edited May 2018 watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 48
    2old4fun2old4fun Posts: 239member
    KevinBF said:
    I thought Apple Pay was an safer alternative to using credit cards?
    You might want to learn about Apple Pay. It is a safe way to use your credit/debit card. It does not replace any card.
    tgr1entropystoysandmelolliverGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 16 of 48
    2old4fun2old4fun Posts: 239member
    JinTech said:
    KevinBF said:
    I thought Apple Pay was an safer alternative to using credit cards?
    My thoughts exactly. Doesn't having a physical card defeat the sole purpose of ApplePay?
    You might want to learn about ApplePay. It does not replace any credit/debit card.
    entropystoysandmelolliverGeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 48
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    mike1 said:
    Doesn't say if it would be a Visa/MC/Amex card, so it's use in the world would be limited to Apple Pay transactions and Apple Store purchases.
    It says it replaces the Barclay Rewards card which is a Visa.
  • Reply 18 of 48
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,273member
    volcan said:
    mike1 said:
    Doesn't say if it would be a Visa/MC/Amex card, so it's use in the world would be limited to Apple Pay transactions and Apple Store purchases.
    It says it replaces the Barclay Rewards card which is a Visa.
    OK. Didn't realize that. Thanks.
  • Reply 19 of 48
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Adding the Apple Pay logo to a physical credit card sounds like an odd thing to do and potentially confusing to customers who don't already understand how Apple Pay works.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 20 of 48
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,402member
    Not happy about Apple getting into bed with Bankster #1, Government Sachs. I'll spare you the details, but the info is out there for anyone interested.

    There are better outfits to deal with.

    I would rather Apple set up a Bank as a separate but wholly owned subsidiary. They can then hire people who share the values of the company.
    Just decided to pull some random nonsense out of your hat?

    Goldman Sachs is a fine company. (And no, I don't work for them).

    (This is post also doubles as a response to @SpamSandwich above.)
    edited May 2018
Sign In or Register to comment.