Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is getting to ready to launch a credit card in partnership with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS), according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
The new credit card marks the end of Apple’s credit card partnership with Barclays PLC.
“The planned card would carry the Apple Pay brand and could launch early next year, people familiar with the matter said. Apple will replace its longstanding rewards-card partnership with Barclays,” the newspaper reported.
This will be Goldman’s first foray into consumer credit cards that will expand beyond its own customer base. The move comes just months after Goldman acquired the team behind Final, an Oakland-based credit card startup.
The partnership will extend into other services including Goldman offering in-store loans to Apple customers buying iPhones and other gadgets.
According to the report, the Apple-Goldman card could help the “companies combat weaknesses in their core businesses.”
Apple shares have been on a tear of late and touched an all-time high of US$190.37 today as the company's valuation edges ever closer to the vaunted trlilion-dollar mark.
READ: Wall Street praises Apple as tech giant becomes less reliant on iPhone
Apple bowled over Wall Street by posting better-than-expected profits on May 1, but it also reported that iPhone sales had slowed in the United States.
Apple which is widely expected to become the first company to hit a trillion-dollar capitalization is scouring for new opportunities to add to its formidable revenue stream. Now worth over $940bn, Apple is broadening its presence in the banking and finance industry through the Apple Pay card.
The WSJ report quoted people familiar with the matter saying Apple stood to “boost its revenue by collecting a bounty from Goldman” for each new cardholder.
The supplementary revenue could help Apple reach its goal of doubling its services business to US$50bn annually by 2020 from US$24.35 bn in 2016.