iDebt: Apple partners with Goldman on new mobile credit card

Have we reached peak fintech? Or is peak fintech yet to come? Time will tell. In the meantime, Apple will start testing its first credit card in partnership with Goldman Sachs.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the credit card will be linked directly to the Apple Wallet and may come with additional capabilities to help users manage money like setting budgets and tracking rewards.

This is uncharted territory for both companies

Despite its 150-year legacy in banking, Goldman has never offered a credit card.

However, since launching its mobile banking brand, Marcus, in 2016, Goldman has undergone a rebrand to become more accessible to the average Joe.

WSJ notes that, while investors once needed $10m in fun(d) money for Goldman bankers to bat an eye, Marcus customers can now open accounts with just a Washington in their pocket.

Fintech: the hottest vertical since D2C ecommerce 

We’ve talked about the great “unbanked” (AKA people without a savings account, AKA digital banks’ white whale) ad nauseam over the past year, and the fintech industry doesn’t show any signs of slowing.

To recap, in the past year:

• PayPal launched its own digital account and debit card.
• Digital only “neo-banks” like Chime started luring in consumers with high-interest saving accounts thanks to lower overhead.
• Brands like Acorns, SoFi, Square, and — for approximately 24 hours — Robinhood, all launched digital checking accounts.

That’s all great, but call us when someone partners with Jimmy John’s on a punch card…