CUPERTINO, Calif.–Apple will team with Goldman Sachs this spring to introduce a joint credit card that is paired with new iPhone features and will be aimed at helping users to manage their money.
The card has already been rolled out to employees for testing in the next few weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal, which said the companies hope to lure cardholders by offering them extra features on Apple’s Wallet app that will let them set spending goals, track their rewards and manage their balances.
It appears the new offering relates to an announcement made in 2018 by Apple and Goldman Sachs that they will partner on a new joint credit card that would be Goldman Sach’s first push into retail plastic as it also seeks to grow its retail bank, Marcus. That card is supposed to roll out this year.
“As iPhone sales cool, Apple is turning to fee-generating services,” the Journal reported. “Apple currently takes a small cut when iPhone users make credit-card purchases through Apple Pay. It would get a bigger slice of the swipe fees from its own card, some of the people said. Executives also hope the card will boost use of Apple Pay, which has been slow to catch on among users and merchants.”
The Journal added, “The credit card is Goldman’s first, and a heavy lift. The bank is adding customer-support call centers around the country and building an internal system to handle payments. The latter project has a $200 million budget, people familiar with the matter said, a major investment at a time when the bank is trying to cut costs.”