Apple teams with Goldman Sachs to offer savings accounts to card users

Apple Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will team up to offer savings accounts to users of the tech company’s credit card.
 

“Apple Card users will be able to open the new high-yield savings account and have their daily cash automatically deposited into it  -- with no fees, no minimum deposits and no minimum balance requirements,” Apple said in a statement Thursday. Daily cash refers to the rewards that card users generate through their purchases.

The move builds on the existing credit-card partnership between the two companies. The Wall Street titan has pushed in recent years to expand its offerings for consumers, though the effort has been dogged by cost overruns and missed profitability goals. For Apple, Goldman remains a key partner even as the tech company works to shift more of its financial-services offerings in-house.

The move is part of Apple’s bet that services -- including financial offerings -- will help fuel growth in coming years. Already, services contribute more than 20% of revenue, up from less than 10% in 2015. But an Apple “buy now, pay later” service, announced earlier this year, has taken longer than expected to reach the market. The offering, called Apple Pay Later, had been slated for iOS 16, software released last month in tandem with new iPhones.

Apple and Goldman Sachs have also been working on a more extensive buy now, pay later service for Apple Pay that could handle larger purchase amounts with longer-term payment plans -- an expansion over the delayed, short-term Apple Pay Later service. 

Apple’s savings-account offering will allow Apple Card users to generate interest on their cash back, which arrives in 1%, 2% and 3% increments depending on whether the purchases were made via Apple Pay, on Apple products or with select merchants. Apple and Goldman didn’t announce an interest rate, but Marcus, Goldman’s existing savings account, currently gives users an annual percentage yield of 2.15%. 

The partnership could encourage users to store the cash they get back with Goldman rather than Green Dot Bank, Apple’s existing partner for its legacy credit card.

Goldman has been eager to increase its consumer deposits. The firm’s existing savings-account products already hold more than $100 billion. They are complementary to Goldman’s transaction-banking business, which takes in corporate deposits, another source of cheap funding.

Brazil court fines Apple, orders sale of iPhones with chargers (REUTERS)

A Brazilian court on Thursday fined Apple 100 million reals ($19 million) and ruled that battery chargers must come with new iPhones sold in the country.

The Sao Paulo state court ruled against Apple in a lawsuit, filed by the association of borrowers, consumers and taxpayers, that argued that the company commits abusive practices by selling its flagship product without a charger.

Apple said it will appeal the decision. Previously, the tech firm argued that the practice had the purpose of reducing carbon emissions.

"It is evident that, under the justification of a 'green initiative,' the defendant imposes on the consumer a required purchase of charger adaptors that were previously supplied along with the product," said the court's decision.