Athira Sethu
Kochi, 2 April 2025
Visa has bid Apple about $100 million to assume responsibility for the Apple Card partnership from Mastercard, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The payments company made a bold bid to acquire the partnership, making a large upfront payment traditionally reserved for the largest credit card programs. Visa did not comment on the report when approached by Reuters.
American Express is also vying for the Apple Card, with the hope of replacing Mastercard. Amex wishes to become the card issuer as well as the payment network for the Apple Card, the report says.
Apple and Goldman Sachs, which rolled out the Apple Card in 2019 with Mastercard serving as the payments processor, broke up their partnership in November 2023. Presently, a number of financial institutions are attempting to fill the void and assume the role of Goldman Sachs as the credit card partner to Apple.
In January, it was reported that Apple had been in talks with Barclays and Synchrony Financial over potentially becoming its new credit card partner. JPMorgan Chase has also been discussing with Apple since last year about the business.
Goldman Sachs entered the consumer credit card business about nine years ago in an attempt to diversify its revenues away from its core trading and investment banking operations. The company, though, decided to retreat from retail in late 2022 after allocating billions of dollars to provide loss protection for that business.
While Apple seeks a new credit card partner, Visa, American Express, and other financial institutions are competing for the deal, which is moneyed, with each vying to win the bid.
