apple fintech breakout gurman
10 months ago
Published March 30, 2022 by

Mark Gurman: Apple 'Breakout' rumor sends fintech partners reeling

From "Apple Working to Bring More Financial Services In-House" posted Wednesday on Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. is developing its own payment processing technology and infrastructure for future financial products, part of an ambitious effort that would reduce its reliance on outside partners over time, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A multiyear plan would bring a wide range of financial tasks in-house, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. That includes payment processing, risk assessment for lending, fraud analysis, credit checks and additional customer-service functions such as the handling of disputes.

The effort is focused on future products, rather than Apple’s current lineup of services. Still, the news sent shares of CoreCard Corp. and Green Dot Corp. -- two of Apple’s existing partners -- down more than 10% apiece on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., another key partner, slipped as much as 1.2%...

Part of the project has been dubbed “Breakout” internally, underscoring the idea of breaking away from the existing financial system, according to the people. A representative for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment on the plans.

My take: The sooner Apple shakes off Goldman Sachs the better.

5 Comments

  1. Steven Philips said:
    I think it’s pretty solidly tied to Goldman for the Apple Card, but all the “credit approval” stuff every time you get a new iPhone would be easily brought in-house. Especially if coupled to a hardware subscription plan. No idea how much this would save them, but even .5% would add up to quite a bit I think.
    I think these things go hand in hand and might materialize at the same time,

    1
    March 30, 2022
  2. Robert Paul Leitao said:
    This was evident in Apple’s recent acquisition of UK-based Credit Kudos. Different countries have different finance/banking regulations and the reach of the Goldman Sachs Apple Card is limited. Especially for international locations, Apple needs the ability to make intelligent credit decisions for consumers as quickly as possible and based on criteria that extends beyond traditional credit scores.

    5
    March 30, 2022
  3. John Konopka said:
    It makes a lot of sense for Apple to have better tools for evaluating credit risks. They are so huge and in so many countries I can’t even imagine how they manage this now.

    0
    March 31, 2022

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