The deal was supposed to be a “powerful alliance” built a “revolutionary digital-first credit card with designs on expanding into other consumer finance products.”

The Tame Apple Press claimed that the deal was great for Goldman because it gave it a chance to get into the consumer business it had jumped into as it sought to diversify away from the old-school Wall Street revenue model of trading and advising on deals. Apple wanted to bolster its services business, and broaden its finance offerings -- which began with Apple Pay – to get people to buy more iPhones.

It launched in October 2019 and was recently extended through to the end of the decade but it appears the two are busy fighting over the scheme. Goldman has added up some numbers and discovered that it won't be profitable enough for the bank in the near term. It has been in talks with credit card issuer American Express to take over.

The reason was that working with Apple was a bigger pain than expected. Apple had a lot of demands that were atypical for credit cards and led to development problems ahead of when the ‌Apple Card‌ launched, including billing statements that lined up with calendar month, instant cashback rewards, and the design of the physical card and customer agreements. While Apple was more focused on sleek technology and product pizazz, Goldman was more worried about regulatory compliance.

The Tame Apple Press has tried to simplify the breakdown to it being all Goldman Sach’s fault. They cite a story that Apple CEO Tim Cook was testing the service and was not able to get approved for an ‌Apple Card‌. The Goldman Sachs underwriting process rejected his application because he was a high-profile figure that is regularly impersonated, and flags on his credit bureau accounts caused issues.

Shortly after the ‌Apple Card‌ launched, Goldman Sachs was also investigated for how credit limit increases were based on gender discrimination. Goldman Sachs was ultimately cleared of gender bias, but the situation created tension with Apple. The company had issues with inaccurate statements, delayed payment postings, and problems with credit reports.