JPMorgan Explores Taking Over Apple Card That Goldman Sachs Wants To Ditch

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is in discussions with Apple Inc. about taking over a credit card portfolio that rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has been trying to ditch.

The biggest US bank is among a slew of credit-card issuers that have explored taking over the Apple card, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Goldman tie-up, initially launched about five years ago, was part of an effort to cement the Wall Street giant’s consumer-banking foray, which it has since abandoned.

Goldman is already set to hand off a $2 billion portfolio of loans made to General Motors Co. customers to Barclays Plc at a discount to the value of the outstanding balances, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

Representatives for JPMorgan and Goldman declined to comment. A representative for Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The JPMorgan discussions were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said a deal could still be months away and isn’t guaranteed since key details such as the price are still to be negotiated.

For Apple, the Goldman partnership was part of a broader push to generate more revenue from services. The tech giant has also spoken to several potential suitors such as Synchrony Financial and Capital One Financial Corp. to ascertain their interest in taking over the credit card, the Wall Street Journal said Tuesday.