JPMorgan Chase Takes Over Apple Card From Goldman Sachs: What It Means for Cardholders
JPMorgan Chase has officially become the new issuer of Apple Card, ending Goldman Sachs’ seven-year partnership with Apple in a deal that signals a major shift in the competitive landscape of premium credit cards.
The announcement, confirmed by Apple, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs on January 7, 2026, represents the culmination of years of negotiations following Goldman Sachs’ struggles in consumer banking.
Why Goldman Sachs Exited
Goldman Sachs launched the Apple Card in 2019 as part of its ambitious pivot into retail banking, but the venture quickly became a financial drain. The investment banking giant reported a $1.2 billion loss in 2022 from the Apple Card program alone, and losses continued mounting, with its platform solutions unit reporting a $859 million net loss in 2024. The operational challenges of managing consumer credit, combined with regulatory scrutiny and lenient lending practices, proved incompatible with Goldman’s traditional business model.
As early as 2023, Goldman Sachs began exploring options to exit the partnership, ultimately leading to discussions with JPMorgan Chase starting in 2024.
What’s Changing (and What Isn’t)
For Apple Card users, the transition is largely seamless. The card’s core features—including no fees, 3% Daily Cash back on Apple purchases, and transparent interest calculations—will remain unchanged. The Mastercard payment network continues to back the card, preserving global acceptance and rewards benefits.
The transition will unfold over approximately 24 months, giving millions of cardholders time to adjust to the new issuer behind the scenes. During this period, current cardholders won’t experience service disruptions or changes to their accounts.
The Strategic Win for JPMorgan
For JPMorgan, acquiring the Apple Card portfolio represents a significant expansion of its already dominant position in U.S. credit cards. The deal transfers approximately $20 billion in credit card balances, though JPMorgan is acquiring the portfolio at a $1 billion discount, reflecting elevated delinquency rates in the program.
JPMorgan’s involvement signals the bank’s confidence in Apple’s affluent customer demographic, known for higher spending and lower default rates compared to general credit card users. This partnership deepens JPMorgan’s integration into Apple’s ecosystem, which encompasses over one billion active devices worldwide.
Industry Implications
This transition underscores a crucial lesson for tech-bank partnerships: success requires mutual strengths and compatible business models. Goldman Sachs’ struggles highlighted the misalignment between investment banking expertise and retail banking operations.
For Apple, the partnership reinforces its strategy to expand services revenue amid slowing hardware sales. For JPMorgan, it’s a defensive and offensive move—solidifying relationships with high-value customers while setting a precedent for other tech companies seeking banking partners with the scale and expertise to execute successfully.
The deal may also catalyze further collaborations between financial institutions and tech firms, as companies increasingly embed financial services into their ecosystems—from digital wallets to potential future innovations leveraging Apple’s upcoming products and services.