- JPMorgan Chase agreed to take over Apple Card from Goldman Sachs, acquiring about $20B of balances in a roughly 24-month transition pending approvals.
- Apple Card terms and features are expected to stay largely the same initially, with Mastercard remaining the network.
- Goldman’s exit caps its loss-making consumer push and is projected to lift Q4 2025 EPS by $0.46 via reserve release, partly offset by revenue and expense hits.
- JPMorgan is reserving $2.2B for expected credit losses and will inherit elevated delinquencies and subprime exposure while gaining scale and a deeper Apple tie-up.
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The agreement signed in early January 2026 marks a strategic pivot for all three parties—Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Apple. The $20 billion credit card loan portfolio being transferred reflects both the magnitude and the growing complexity of consumer-lending risk that Goldman was grappling with. Goldman’s exit completes its retreat from mass retail banking, having suffered persistent losses from its consumer financial services operations since launching Apple Card in 2019. Meanwhile, JPMorgan sees this as an opportunity to reinforce its dominant presence in the credit-card market and integrate a large, loyal, branded user base into its retail banking franchise.
Operational continuity is a central theme of this deal. Apple ensures that cardholders will notice no immediate changes: rewards, partnership with Mastercard, and key features will be maintained at least during transition. But JPMorgan will have to manage inherited losses, higher default risks, and regulatory exposure, especially given credit quality problems—subprime exposure and elevated delinquency—under Goldman’s oversight. The bank’s setting aside of $2.2 billion for credit losses in Q4 2025 reflects acknowledgement of this risk.
For Apple, the move deepens its financial-services relationships with institutions that can scale consumer banking, shifting reliance from Goldman, whose consumer banking culture and infrastructure reportedly struggled under the weight of regulatory scrutiny and losses. For Goldman, the financial benefits are clear: a boost in earnings per share via reserve release; but costs include revenue loss and write-downs.
Longer-term implications include regulatory reactions—particularly around consumer protection, credit underwriting standards, and servicing practices. Also, Apple’s ambitions in fintech could escalate, as it gains a partner with deep credit and consumer banking competencies. JPMorgan may leverage the Apple cohort to distribute other financial products, cross-sell, and deploy capital efficiently. However, harmonizing underwriting standards with Apple’s user value proposition and maintaining brand expectations (e.g. minimal fees, strong UX) will be a balancing act.
Strategically, this deal lifts JPMorgan’s credit-card balances significantly, scaling assets and possibly increasing its expense and risk profile. Whether the acquisitional premium—or in this case, discount—translates into sustainable return depends on its ability to improve asset quality, maintain strong loss‐reserving discipline, and integrate customer operations without friction. Key open questions include regulatory clearance timelines, shifts in credit behaviour under JPMorgan, and whether Apple uses this moment to further entrench itself in financial services (e.g., through savings, installments, or broader lending).
Supporting Notes
- Goldman Sachs will transfer a credit card portfolio of ~US$20 billion in outstanding balances to JPMorgan, which will become the new issuer of Apple Card. The transaction is expected to take approximately 24 months and is subject to regulatory approval.
- Goldman expects a one-time gain of US$0.46 per share in its fourth quarter 2025 earnings, resulting from the release of US$2.48 billion in loan-loss reserves; this is partially offset by a net revenue reduction of US$2.26 billion and US$38 million in expenses.
- JPMorgan will set aside US$2.2 billion in provision for credit losses in Q4 2025 related to its forward purchase commitment of the portfolio.
- Mastercard will remain the payment network for Apple Card; Apple Card users will continue to earn up to 3 % Daily Cash back, benefit from Apple Card Family, Monthly Installments for Apple products, and high-yield savings features, with terms remaining essentially unchanged in the near term.
- Goldman Sachs’ consumer banking push since 2019 has been unprofitable: it accumulated over US$7 billion in pretax losses on its consumer‐lending businesses since 2020. The Apple Credit Card partnership was one of the key assets of that push.
- Risks to JPMorgan include high exposure to subprime borrowers and higher than industry‐average delinquency rates in the Apple Card portfolio, requiring significant risk reserves and careful underwriting adjustments.