Goldman Mulls Exit of Apple Partnership in Further Retreat From Consumer Business

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A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. logo


Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs
,
furthering plans to retreat from its consumer-lending business, has been weighing whether to end its partnership with

Apple

and is in talks with

American Express

about taking over its

Apple

credit card and other initiatives, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The push by

Goldman Sachs

(GS) into consumer financial products began in 2016. However, the bank’s foray into consumer lending has been a money-losing venture and Chief Executive David Solomon said as recently as February that

Goldman Sachs

was “considering strategic alternatives” for the business.

Goldman Sachs has lost more than $3 billion since 2020 in its consumer push.

In April, the Wall Street firm and tech giant Apple (AAPL) introduced a high-yield savings account. Goldman Sachs recently also announced support for Apple’s “buy now, pay later” offering. But now, according to the Journal report, which cited people familiar with the discussions, Goldman Sachs is looking to offload the Apple credit-card partnership to

American Express

(AXP). The bank also has discussed transferring its card partnership with

General Motors

(GM) to American Express or another issuer, some of the people told the Journal.

Apple is aware of the talks, which have been ongoing for months, the Journal reported. Apple would have to agree to a transfer, the Journal noted.

Barron’s has reached out to Goldman Sachs and Apple for comment. American Express told Barron’s on Saturday that it wouldn’t be commenting on the report.

The Journal report was published after stock markets closed on Friday. Goldman Sachs finished the session down 0.2%. Apple closed with a gain of 2.3% and its market capitalization crossed $3 trillion, becoming the world’s first company to close with that valuation.

Write to Joe Woelfel at [email protected] 

Source: https://www.barrons.com/articles/goldman-sachs-apple-partnership-692b8b2a?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo