WSJ: Visa offers Apple $100 million to become exclusive Apple Card partner

Visa has offered Apple approximately $100 million to take over its credit card issuing partnership from Mastercard, The Wall Street Journal reports.

It's part of Visa's effort to qualify for the Apple Card by offering an upfront fee typically reserved for the largest card programs. The U.S. payment card giant also faces competition from American Express, which is seeking to become both the card issuer and its payment network.

Goldman Sachs and Apple, which began a partnership with Mastercard in 2019 to process payments, ended it in November 2023. Now, several financial firms are looking to replace Goldman as Apple's credit card issuing partner. According to Reuters, Apple has been in talks with Barclays, Synchrony Financial and JPMorgan Chase since last year.

Goldman Sachs entered the consumer business nearly a decade ago in an effort to expand its revenue beyond trading and investment banking. But by the end of 2022, the company had decided to scale back its retail ambitions, setting aside billions of dollars to cover potential losses.