Apple launched a high-yield savings account in partnership with Goldman Sachs, but its buzzed-about 4.15% APY isn’t lauded by one executive at the investment bank who didn’t hold back when dissing the endeavor.
“We should have never done this f–king thing,” an unnamed Goldman partner told colleagues, per The Wall Street Journal.
It’s unclear who exactly made the comment, though it was reportedly said just after the savings account’s big debut at Goldman’s headquarters in April, when most executives hyped the account for Apple users’ ability to earn 10 times the national average interest rate for savings accounts.
Goldman also agreed to operate Apple credit cards — which offer users up to 3% cash back on their purchases via Daily Cash — and support the tech firm’s “buy now, play later” offering.
And though the iPhone maker’s foray into commercial banking started off as a smash success — pulling in $1 billion in deposits within days of its launch — Apple’s savings account feature has since fallen from grace.
Many Goldman executives agree, according to The Journal, with bankers believing the company’s foray into consumer lending has been a distraction from its core Wall Street business.
The Journal reported in June that Goldman was having talks with American Express to take over its credit-card deal with Apple, though it’s unclear how advanced those conversations were.
Inside the bank, partners blame Goldman’s ill-fated venture on CEO David Solomon, who has been facing heat for months over his sharp-elbowed management style, flopped business moves, and side hustle as a DJ.
When the investment bank reports its earnings on Tuesday, all eyes will no doubt be on its consumer-lending business, which has come to also include a credit card in partnership with General Motors and the acquisition of fintech lender GreenSky last year fore $1.7 billion.
Goldman reportedly plans to sell GreenSky at a steep loss after just one year of owning the platform. Goldman will offload the asset to investment firm Sixth Street for some $500 million, according to The Journal.
The sale is expected to result in a 19-cents-per-share hit to Goldman’s third-quarter results, equal to about $60 million, per the outlet.
Instead of pawning off its Apple partnership, Goldman staffers on the Apple account have floated letting Apple take more ownership of the collaboration, according to The Journal.
One proposed idea, per the outlet, would make Apple the lender for new credit-card spending and issuance while Goldman continues to manage existing loans.
However, Goldman’s senior executives told The Journal that these ideas are just that — ideas — and they haven’t made their way up either company’s corporate ladder.
Goldman so far has tried to lower expenses by tapping Citigroup credit-card veteran Bill Johnson in August, who was tasked with turning the bank’s credit-card partnerships into profitable endeavors.
If Johnson can’t make Apple’s credit-card program trend positively come 2024, Goldman will likely sell, people familiar with the matter told The Journal.
Representatives for Goldman and Apple did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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