JPMorgan Chase reaches deal to become Apple Card issuer as Goldman closes chapter on consumer foray

JPMorgan Chase reached an agreement to take over Apple credit card from the original issuer, Goldman Sachsthe two banks said in separate publications Wednesday.

The arrangement, which was completed after a year of negotiations between the parties, means that a giant company in the field of credit cards and retail banking will grow even further. JPMorgan will take over more than $20 billion in card loans from Goldman, which has begun to move away from consumer finance, in 2022.

JPMorgan said the deal will take about 24 months to complete and will reserve $2.2 billion for loan losses when it reports fourth-quarter 2025 earnings next week.

The agreement, which brings JPMorgan closer to a dominant technology player, burnishes the bank’s reputation as a leader in American finance. Even before this deal, it was the nation’s largest credit card issuer by acquisition volume.

Unloading the Apple Card business helps weather a difficult period for CEO David Solomon, according to Goldman. Goldman entered the credit card business with great fanfare in 2019, leaving other organizations behind on the Apple Card.

“This transaction largely complements our narrowing of our focus on our consumer business,” Solomon said in his bank’s statement. “We look forward to continuing to support our customers during the transition to a new issuer as we focus on evolving the strategy we have established for our core franchisees.”

Goldman said the transaction would boost its earnings by 46 cents per share when results are announced next week.

In July, CNBC reported that talks between JPMorgan and Apple were progressing, with JPMorgan becoming the last bank standing after other interested issuers such as American Express, Synchrony and Barclays.

People with knowledge of the matter said at the time that JPMorgan would acquire the Apple card portfolio only if Goldman and Apple were willing to compromise.

JPMorgan appears to have succeeded on at least one front: It’s taking over the Apple Card portfolio at a discount of more than $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity about details of the confidential deal.

The portfolio includes more subprime and poor credit borrowers than JPMorgan would normally service, people with knowledge of the business told CNBC. Apple wants Goldman to serve as many iPhone users as possible, the sources said.

JPMorgan also plans to offer an Apple savings account as part of the suite of financial services the tech giant offers.

JPMorgan and Goldman declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal.