JPMorganChase takes over Apple Card from Goldman Sachs

• Key insights: JPMorganChase is taking over the Apple Card from Goldman Sachs.
• What's at stake: The deal ends more than a year of speculation about which credit card issuer would take over Apple's coveted $20 billion credit card portfolio.
• Forward look: The transition will take about two years, but JPMorgan is logging a $2.2 billion provision for credit losses to prepare for potential credit hits.

Update: This article has been updated to include prepared remarks from Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and information about Goldman's financials.

The Apple Card has found a new home at JPMorganChase , the country's largest credit card issuer, the bank announced Wednesday evening.

The bank said it expects to move the $20 billion of card balances to its retail banking platform over the next two years, subject to regulatory approvals.

JPMorgan will replace Goldman Sachs , which won the Apple card business in 2019 amid a foray into consumer banking but ultimately backpedaled, abandoning the sector.

"This transaction substantially completes the narrowing of our focus in our consumer business," Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in a prepared statement Wednesday night. "We look forward to continuing to support our customers during the transition to a new issuer."

Apple has stood by its bet on consumer-focused financial services, dominating the digital wallet space, but its card portfolio has been in flux since 2023, when Goldman said it was pulling back on its personal lending efforts.

"Chase shares our commitment to innovation and delivering products and services that enhance consumers' lives," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, in a prepared statement Wednesday. "We look forward to working together to continue to provide a best-in-class experience and exceptional customer service with Apple Card."

The agreement ends more than a year of speculation of who would take over Apple's credit card portfolio. Analysts had earlier floated JPMorgan and Capital One Financial as potential replacements for Goldman. Last summer, The Wall Street Journal reported that JPMorgan was nearing a deal to take over the business.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the deal was official earlier Wednesday.

American Express and Synchrony Financial were also at one time reportedly vying for the card portfolio, according to The Wall Street Journal.

But higher-than-average delinquency rates in the card portfolio have reportedly been one hitch in negotiations, though some of that could be attributable to the fact that Apple customers' billing cycles all come at the end of the month, rather than being staggered throughout the month, industry experts have said.

JPMorgan said Wednesday that it will take a $2.2 billion provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter of 2025 related to possible credit hits in the portfolio. In the third quarter, the company's provision was $3.4 billion, about $600 million of which was related to card services.

Goldman expects the deal to add 46 cents a share to earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025. The bank said it released $2.5 billion of loan loss reserves in connection to the transaction, partially offset by a $2.3 billion reduction in net revenues "related to markdowns on the outstanding credit card loan portfolio" and contract termination obligations, along with $38 million of expenses.

Until the transaction is complete, in 24 months, Goldman said it will continue to "operate the program and record ongoing business results."

The Apple credit card portfolio represents approximately $21 billion in receivables, according to Keefe Bruyette and Woods estimates, and could represent about $100 billion in payments volume. To put that in perspective, $100 billion in payments volume represents roughly 1% of Mastercard's volume and 75 basis points of Visa's volume.

Mastercard will continue to be the payment network for the Apple card, even as the portfolio moves banks.

Payment experts have said that Apple's credit card portfolio would be a beneficial addition to any of the top credit card issuers because many of its customers are affluent with a penchant to spend. Apple's growth also has far outpaced the wider credit card industry.

From 2019 to 2021, the Apple Card grew at more than a 53% compounded annual growth rate, according to independent estimates from Crone Consulting. Since then, Apple's credit card business has grown at a CAGR between 31% and 42%, compared with 4% to 6% CAGR for the top 10 credit card issuers that hold 90% of purchasing power.

Nearly 40% of Apple Card owners had an annual income of $100,000 or more in 2023, and 34% of Apple Card users had an income between $50,000 and $99,999, according to a July 2024 Statistica survey.

JPMorgan's card business has steadily expanded in recent years, adding 10 million new accounts annually from 2022 to 2024. In the third quarter, the company's net revenue from card services and auto, which it combines in reports, was up 12% from the prior year and made up more than one-third of earnings in its consumer and community banking unit.