Apple Talking With JPMorgan Chase About Potential Apple Card Partnership

[Hobbes42]

Amid long-running reports that Apple and Goldman Sachs are working toward ending their Apple Card partnership, JPMorgan Chase is now in talks with Apple about taking over the credit card program, reports The Wall Street Journal.

A deal could still be months away, according to the report, but talks have accelerated in recent weeks as the two sides negotiate details of a potential agreement.

Chase is looking for certain concessions in order for a deal to be reached, including paying less than the $17 billion face value of outstanding balances of Apple Card holders and doing away with the synchronized Apple Card billing cycles that match the calendar months but have created customer service issues.

Apple has also spoken with Synchrony Financial and Capital One about the Apple Card program, while Goldman Sachs spoke with American Express last year as the two current partners on Apple Card have been exploring how to end their partnership, but it appears Chase is the current leader.

Article Link: Apple Talking With JPMorgan Chase About Potential Apple Card Partnership

Hey Tim, I know that you don’t care about the physical items your company makes. I bet in your perfect world Apple doesn’t have to deal with these pesky hardware things ever. Apple would be a pure “services” company.

But for the love of god I hope that the trajectory I’m seeing isn’t what I think it is. Tim has zero interest in the product design of Apple. He’s made Apple the biggest company in the world, but in doing so has annihilated the soul of Apple.

Maybe I’m just becoming old and bitter, but man, I have to believe that there is some whimsy and joy left in Apple. I don’t know where it is… I’m not seeing it anymore.

I’ve been coming to this site for 16 years not because of news of Apple partnering with a new credit card company.

And when I look at the last 5 years of the iPhone, it seems virtually physically unchanged. How long is this going to continue? Is this just the dystopian world we now live in?

 

[dannyyankou]

Oh cool. I wonder if that would allow us to use our Daily Cash as chase points, and maybe save a bit of extra money on travel.

 

[philrock]

If Chase buys it they’ll turn it into another second rate credit card. It won’t have the features that distinguish it from other cards.

It’s not great for cash back or benefits. It’s only great because of the billing cycle and payment system

It currently has no perks and protections that most tier 2 cards offer, plus it has been issued to customers in higher risk categories. It's currently a tier 3 card, second rate would be an upgrade.

 

[acgmph]

Fine with Chase but keep MasterCard and don’t switch to Visa. International transactions without fees is awesome. Would prefer Amex 1000% more, though. My Amex and Apple Card are the two go-tos

 

[russell_314]

The frequency of when a customer contacts customer service, for any reason, is around the end of their billing cycle.

For every other financial product, the date is largely when the account was opened. Obviously there's adjustments for the 28th - 31st of the month, but it's spread around the month with only little differences between.

With Apple Card, everyone's billing cycle is the same day. This means there's a huge upswell at the start of the month and a relatively silent for the rest of the month. This imbalance is very hard on the labor involved as it's a huge firehose at once, rather than spreading it around. The quality is also isn't as good as the rush to close the tickets weighs heavy on everyone.

As an Apple Card customer, I am very willing to adjust my billing cycle date as I value better working conditions for all.

I can understand this, but I think having it at the end of the month makes more sense for most people. I’m sure the $1.99 an hour they’re paying someone to answer phones isn’t going to bankrupt JP Morgan Chase 😂

 

[DocMultimedia]

My guess is call volume increase to support during the beginning of the month.
Having the billing cycle spread out throughout the month helps customer support.

Yeah, that's what I also think.

 

[playaproved]

I have a great relationship with Chase and wouldn’t mind seeing the  card over there. I also wouldn’t have a problem moving my billing date to the middle of the month, as my other three Chase cards have billing cycle dates of the 1st/2nd.

In terms of the no fees, Chase is going to add some fees for sure. Doesn’t bother me as I pay my balances in full and don’t miss payments. At the end of the day, it’s a business and the perks everyone want costs the company money. Definitely a give and take.

 

[falainber]

Whoever it is going to be, the card won't have the same benefits as now. Goldman Sachs desperately wanted to get into consumer business when they signed the deal with Apple. The deal was not good for GS and they were losing money on it. The new partner is unlikely to make the same mistake.

 

[luigiBoschin]

Amid long-running reports that Apple and Goldman Sachs are working toward ending their Apple Card partnership, JPMorgan Chase is now in talks with Apple about taking over the credit card program, reports The Wall Street Journal.

A deal could still be months away, according to the report, but talks have accelerated in recent weeks as the two sides negotiate details of a potential agreement.

Chase is looking for certain concessions in order for a deal to be reached, including paying less than the $17 billion face value of outstanding balances of Apple Card holders and doing away with the synchronized Apple Card billing cycles that match the calendar months but have created customer service issues.

Apple has also spoken with Synchrony Financial and Capital One about the Apple Card program, while Goldman Sachs spoke with American Express last year as the two current partners on Apple Card have been exploring how to end their partnership, but it appears Chase is the current leader.

Article Link: Apple Talking With JPMorgan Chase About Potential Apple Card Partnership

Amid long-running reports that Apple and Goldman Sachs are working toward ending their Apple Card partnership, JPMorgan Chase is now in talks with Apple about taking over the credit card program, reports The Wall Street Journal.

A deal could still be months away, according to the report, but talks have accelerated in recent weeks as the two sides negotiate details of a potential agreement.

Chase is looking for certain concessions in order for a deal to be reached, including paying less than the $17 billion face value of outstanding balances of Apple Card holders and doing away with the synchronized Apple Card billing cycles that match the calendar months but have created customer service issues.

Apple has also spoken with Synchrony Financial and Capital One about the Apple Card program, while Goldman Sachs spoke with American Express last year as the two current partners on Apple Card have been exploring how to end their partnership, but it appears Chase is the current leader.

Article Link: Apple Talking With JPMorgan Chase About Potential Apple Card Partnership

i am a Chase Sapphire customer and also ave the Apple card, it would be THE BEST partnership!

 

[dannyyankou]

Fine with Chase but keep MasterCard and don’t switch to Visa. International transactions without fees is awesome. Would prefer Amex 1000% more, though. My Amex and Apple Card are the two go-tos

I would love to use it at Costco though…

 

[sw1tcher]

Between the remaining 4, Chase is certainly as good as any. I think Apple should separate Apple Card into multiple tiers, one for low FICO, one standard, and a premium one with annual fee and travel benefits.

Apple Card, Apple Card Pro, and Apple Card Pro Max?

 

[nikon1]

Basically, the Apple Card rewards aren’t as good as something like the Chase Sapphire card but it’s more customer friendly and easier to use.

And there are ZERO fees with the Apple Card!

I would prefer that Amex take it on but that makes no sense for Amex.

 

[jimbobb24]

Hope they figure something out. One of my favorite apple products.

 

[ELman]

Hopefully they offer purchase protection with the new partnership.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

And there are ZERO fees with the Apple Card!

I would prefer that Amex take it on but that makes no sense for Amex.

I have AMEX, among other cards, and I haven't paid a single fee to a CC company in almost 15 years, including foreign transaction fees.

Fee-free isn't unusual, as long as you pay your balance on time.

Edit: I have Amex Gold too, which has a yearly fee but it's a charge card, not a credit card, and the benefits heavily outweigh the cost.

 

[luigiBoschin]

I am a Chase Sapphire customer and I have an Apple card as well, best of the best, a partnership would be great!!

 

[SDJim]

I'm going to be really bummed if the calendar month billing cycles goes away...

 

[GrayFlannel]

Apple Card holders don’t care who services it as long as it works when they swipe it.

 

[Churchman]

Apple has a whole crew of finance asset managers, investment pros, and tax attorneys managing its own cash hoard. It should just separate an arm of that group and create its own public facing bank to service customer financing / loans / credit cards.

The automakers have done it (ie: GMAC - which GM spun of some years ago into Ally Bank / Ford Credit / Toyota Financial Services [which I used to work for in the marketing staff] as well as Toyota's dealer focused bank used to help dealer's manage their wealth and their real estate investment assets / etc.).

Not hard to do.... cuts out the private label 3rd party... makes responsiveness to customer needs or market dynamics or new product launches with new offers for millions of global customers a speedier thing to accommodate when you manage everything in-house. And Apple loves to have vertical ownership of all processes as it relates to product dev and engineering. So they should apply the same logic to banking / credit / finance.

Of course, they want to use another bank's assets to facilitate the loans rather than tie up their own money with customers who may or may not be good risk. But risk assessments and FICOs in the approval process IDs the riskier paper and shunts those out of the pipeline. Again, if the auto companies can do it - and they are technology holdovers from the 1900s yet they make it work - certainly the most valuable tech company can do so as well. Right? Could turn out that an Apple Bank becomes more profitable than Goldman if it offers a large suite of services beyond credit cards and product financing. Possibly.

 

[oneteam]

They better not get rid of the billing cycle that matches the calendar months. It's the best feature of the Apple Card.

 

[zorinlynx]

I'd be okay with Chase, my big thing is I want Apple Card to remain a MasterCard or if it must change, become a Visa. They are the most accepted payment networks; if they were to switch to something like AmEx or Discover, Apple Card won't be accepted in as many places.

 

[GrayFlannel]

Goldman Sachs never should have entered this deal with Apple or consumer banking as a whole. Sachs is the gold standard for investing and they are accustomed to dealing with affluent customers not with the credit card crowd. Sachs wanted a slice of the action and are paying for it. They should have left that market alone.

 

[russell_314]

Apple Card holders don’t care who services it as long as it works when they swipe it.

They will when customer service goes to crap. Also with Apple Card, you should avoid using the physical card because you’re cutting your cash back in half.

 

[oneteam]

I'm going to be really bummed if the calendar month billing cycles goes away...

Same. It's a deal breaker for me. If they get rid of it, I'd move my business to AMEX.

 

[zorinlynx]

They will when customer service goes to crap. Also with Apple Card, you should avoid using the physical card because you’re cutting your cash back in half.

Someone tell Walmart and Home Depot to join the 21st century and enable tap to pay. They're the last holdouts I ever have to deal with.

(Also sometimes restaurants where you have to give the waiter your card. But I don't go out to eat often these days so it's not an issue too often.)