Apple Card had the 'most successful credit card launch ever' says Goldman Sachs

Apple's financial partner company Goldman Sachs reports that its first-ever consumer credit card launch — the Apple Card — has been a success, and that here is a "high level" of demand for it.

In an update to investors, Goldman Sachs says that its partnership with Apple to produce the Apple Card has become "the most successful credit card launch ever."

"Since August," said CEO David Solomon, "we've been pleased to see a high level of consumer demand for the [Apple Card] product."

According to CNBC, Solomon was particularly briefing investors on how Goldman Sachs has recently been undertaking several new initiatives.

"In three short years," he continued, "we have raised $55 billion in deposits on the Marcus [savings account] platform, generated $5 billion in loans, and built a new credit-card platform and launched Apple Card."

Without revealing an more specifics about the Apple Card, Solomon said that all of these initiatives had been introduced without disruption to its existing products and services.

"From an operational and risk perspective, we've handled the inflows smoothly and without compromising our credit underwriting standards," he said.

Apple Card is the first consumer credit card from Goldman Sachs, and the partnership represents part of a move into what Solomon described as "next generation" electronic trading platforms.

Goldman Sachs has previously revealed that it spent heavily on Apple Card — reportedly $350 for each person who signs up — and these other initiatives.

"Taken together, these investments draw on our returns in the short term," concluded Solomon, "but are critical to expanding our capabilities and our competitive position."

18 Comments

spice-boy 1450 comments · 8 Years

About 5 years ago

Of course they would say this, press release written a year ago.

StrangeDays 12959 comments · 8 Years

spice-boy said:

Of course they would say this, press release written a year ago.

Solomon is the CEO of Goldman Sachs, I think he's qualified to say it's at least the most successful credit card they've launched. He's also the head of a publicly traded company and is prohibited from lying to investors by the SEC.

What data points do you offer to cast doubt on his claim? General sour grapes isn't enough.

AppleExposed 1805 comments · 6 Years

Are we supposed to be surprised?......

BtheB 6 comments · 7 Years

I've had the Apple Card since it's first week... Wonderfully useful if you also have an Apple Watch. I recently completed a three week trip to Spain, and used my wrist to purchase 95% of my expenses. The 'instant' feedback on my iPhone (and wrist) regarding payments was very assuring. The 2% back on all those purchases is a nice, immediate bonus. And, of course, it's accepted EVERYWHERE, unlike my much more expensive AmEx platinum card.. :( Apple Card deserves to be a great success.

CloudTalkin 916 comments · 5 Years

StrangeDays said:

spice-boy said:

Of course they would say this, press release written a year ago.

Solomon is the CEO of Goldman Sachs, I think he's qualified to say it's at least the most successful credit card they've launched. He's also the head of a publicly traded company and is prohibited from lying to investors by the SEC.

What data points do you offer to cast doubt on his claim? General sour grapes isn't enough.

Being the CEO of Goldman does make him qualified to say it's the most successful credit card they've launched. It's iirrelevant because that's not what he said and it's definitely not what he implied. The quote from the article (and author's quote is paraphrased and incomplete btw) says "the most successful credit card launch ever." That implies what it says. But afaict, he doesn't list the criteria used to make that determination. He also covers his ass in his true quote, not what AI paraphrased.
In three short years, we have raised $55 billion in deposits on the Marcus platform, generated $5 billion in loans, and built a new credit-card platform and launched ‌Apple Card‌,” Solomon said, adding “which we believe is the most successful credit-card launch ever.

That says to me he's not stating facts backed by data, but simply rendering an opinion to influence market perception. Pretty sure it was always going to be successful. What else was he going to say? So there's no worry about lying to the SEC. Besides we're all adults here. No sense in pretending any of the financial services companies have any reservations about lying to the SEC. They take their fines and keep moving. If the cost/benefit analysis tells them a lie is more profitable than the truth, they'll lie without compunction.