Goldman Sachs reportedly spent $300 million developing the Apple Card - then Apple boasted it was 'Created by Apple, not a bank.'

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Goldman Sachs reportedly spent $300 million developing the Apple Card - then Apple boasted it was 'Created by Apple, not a bank.'

Apple Card Goldman Sachs

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Apple snubbed Goldman Sachs when it unveiled Apple Card in August.

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  • Apple snubbed Goldman Sachs when it unveiled Apple Card in August.
  • The investment bank spent about $300 million to build the credit card and reassigned thousands of its engineers to finish it on time, according to the Wall Street Journal, yet the iPhone maker debuted it with the slogan, "Created by Apple, not a bank."
  • Goldman conceded to Apple's demands to scrap late fees and not sell customer data, and agreed to use its signature font and simplify customers' monthly statements, the Journal said.
  • Watch Apple and Goldman Sachs trade live.

Apple snubbed Goldman Sachs when it unveiled the Apple Card in August.

The investment bank spent about $300 million to build the credit card and reassigned thousands of its engineers to finish it on time, according to the Wall Street Journal. Yet the iPhone maker debuted it on stage and in advertisements with the slogan, "Created by Apple, not a bank."

Goldman's consumer banking division, Marcus, made several concessions to win the Apple Card mandate. It agreed to scrap late fees and not sell customer data, sacrificing two common revenue streams, the Journal said. It also gave into Apple's demands to use its signature font on monthly statements and prune them of standard industry language, against the advice of its lawyers, the newspaper reported.

Creating the card was also costly and distracted from other initiatives. Goldman spent about $300 million to build Apple Card, and reassigned thousands of engineers across the company to fix a security vulnerability earlier this year, delaying other Marcus products by months, the Journal reported.

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Goldman resisted Apple's calls to charge all Apple Card customers the same interest rate regardless of their credit score, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Despite the bank's role in building the card, Marcus executives were barred from entering Apple's base of operations - a Tribeca loft - ahead of the Apple Card's launch in August, the Journal reported.

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