With Apple and Goldman Sachs set to put an end to their Apple Card agreement over the next 12 to 15 months, Chase Bank could be the ideal partner to step in and take over Goldman Sachs' role, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In his weekly PowerOn newsletter, Gurman on Sunday said that JPMorgan Chase & Co already works with Apple on several financial initiatives, which is why Chase "makes more sense" than other Apple Card partners that have been proposed, such as American Express.
Chase was an early Apple Pay partner, is one of the banks that holds Apple's $60 billion in cash, and works with Apple on an Ultimate Rewards program that provides discounts on Apple products to Chase customers. Right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard platform, which is also used by Chase, so Apple would not need to swap over to Visa or American Express.
When Apple was first seeking a partner for the Apple Card, Chase, American Express, and Citigroup all declined to work with Apple because it was not clear at the time if the endeavor would work out, but now that Apple Card has millions of users, banks that weren't previously interested may want to reconsider.
If Apple does end up working with Chase, Gurman points out that the Apple Savings account might have to go or that Apple might have to find a different partner for it. Chase does not offer high-yield savings accounts that are on par with the 4.15 percent return rate that the Apple Savings account provides under Goldman Sachs.
There have been rumors for months that Goldman Sachs wanted to get out of consumer banking and thus out of its partnership with Apple. The Wall Street Journal last week confirmed that Apple will let Goldman Sachs out of its deal, with Apple planning to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months.
The Wall Street Journal suggested that Apple could work with Synchrony Financial on the Apple Card, and prior rumors have said that Goldman Sachs approached American Express about taking over the partnership. It is not yet clear if Apple is already in talks with another bank, nor what the company's next steps will be. Apple Card service will continue on as normal as Apple works to find a new partner, and Apple has promised to continue to provide "the best tools and services" for Apple Card customers.
