Financial Services, Financial Health And Banking’s Future

Apple say their goal is to deliver tools to help consumers "lead healthier financial lives”, which should be the goal of banks too. If they can deliver it.

Dateline: Paris, 31st May 2023.

Apple now has a high-yield savings account (at 4.15%) for its Apple Card customers. The account is provided in a partnership with Goldman Sachs. It offers a higher rate than Goldman’s own offerings, is FDIC insured and consumers can fund it from their Apple Cash balances or directly from a linked bank account. Why would Goldman Sachs (which has just reported a 19% decline in first-quarter profits on weaker revenue, higher expenses and a $470 million loss from selling some of its consumer loans) do this?

Well, it’s because they have no choice: it is the future of banking.

It’s Apple, It’s News

There’s no reason to doubt that Apple will make a success of this. Despite the fact that it is not in the top ten of best interest rates, the fact is that as Ted Rossman from Bankrate says, while higher yield savings accounts have been around for some time, this will resonate in the mainstream and “The fact that Apple is involved makes it news”. Indeed it does.