JPMorgan Chase reaches deal to become Apple Card issuer as Goldman closes
Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces Apple Card during a launch event at Apple headquarters on March 25, 2019, in Cupertino, California.
Noah Berger | AFP | Getty Images
JPMorgan Chase has reached a deal to take over the Apple credit card from its original issuer, Goldman Sachs, the two banks said Wednesday in separate releases.
The arrangement, completed after a year of negotiations between the parties, means that a giant in credit cards and retail banking overall will grow even larger. JPMorgan will take over more than $20 billion in card loans from Goldman, which began to pivot away from consumer finance in 2022.
JPMorgan said that the deal will take about 24 months to close and that it will book a $2.2 billion provision for credit losses when it reports fourth-quarter 2025 earnings next week.
Customers will continue to tap the card’s existing perks and it will continue to run on Mastercard’s network, the bank said.
“Chase shares our commitment to innovation and delivering products and services that enhance consumers’ lives,” Jennifer Bailey, an Apple executive in charge of payments, said in the release. “We look forward to working together to continue to provide a best-in-class experience.”
The contract, further enmeshing JPMorgan with a dominant tech player, burnishes the bank’s reputation as a leader in American finance. Even before this deal, it was already the country’s largest credit card issuer by purchase volume.
For Goldman, offloading the Apple Card business helps it move past a rocky chapter for CEO David Solomon. Goldman entered the credit card business with great fanfare in 2019 by beating out other issuers for the Apple Card.
“This transaction substantially completes the narrowing of our focus in our consumer business,” Solomon said in his bank’s release. “We look forward to continuing to support our customers during the transition to a new issuer as we focus on advancing the strategy we laid out for our core franchises.”
Goldman said that the transaction will boost its earnings by 46 cents per share when it posts results next week.
Last bank standing
In July, CNBC reported that talks between JP Morgan and Apple had progressed, with JPMorgan being the last bank standing after other interested issuers, including American Express, Synchrony and Barclays, exited.
At the time, people with knowledge of the matter said that JPMorgan would only take on the Apple Card portfolio if Goldman and Apple were willing to make concessions.
It appears as though JPMorgan succeeded on at least one front: It is taking over the Apple Card portfolio at a discount of more than $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the transaction, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about confidential details.
The portfolio contains more subprime and lower-credit borrowers than JPMorgan would usually serve, people with knowledge of the business have told CNBC. Apple wanted Goldman to service as many of its iPhone users as possible, the sources have said.
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