- Apple is working to bring future fintech offerings in house, according to a Bloomberg report.
- The plan would result in Apple insourcing payment processing, risk assessment, and fraud analysis.
- Apple's fintech partners traded lower following the report, including Goldman Sachs, Green Dot, and CoreCard.
Apple sees enough long-term potential in fintech that it's working on a multiyear plan to bring much of what it outsources in-house, according to a Bloomberg report.
The iPhone giant is looking to insource payment processing, risk assessment for lending, fraud analysis, and credit checks as it continues to build out its fintech offerings, according to the report, which cited people with knowledge of the matter.
While Apple's efforts are focused on future products, financial companies it has already partnered with saw their stocks tumble following the Wednesday report. Green Dot and CoreCard, two of Apple's current fintech partners, each fell 8% and 18%, respectively. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs fell more than 1%.
Apple's credit card relies on Green Dot and CoreCard as its main processors for sending transactions to banks for approval, while it relies on Goldman Sachs for lending, credit checks, and some customer service tasks related to the card.
Apple has been slowly building out its fintech footprint over the past few years. The company offers its customers a co-branded credit card, peer-to-peer payments, the digital Wallet app, and the ability for merchants to accept credit card payments from a consumer's iPhone. Apple Pay was first launched in 2014 and has become central to its fintech and services businesses.
Having a fintech platform embedded in all iPhones is important as it could help fuel further growth for Apple and increase the stickiness of its ecosystem, which means people who already own an iPhone are less likely to switch to a competitor like Android.
Apple recently acquired a UK-based startup named Credit Kudos, which uses data from banks to make lending decisions. Apple could integrate that technology to help build its own infrastructure, according to Bloomberg.
Recent reports suggest that Apple is also working on a hardware subscription offering for its phones and computers, as well as a buy-now-pay-later feature for its Apple Card. That buy-now-pay-later option would allow consumers to buy its products in either four installments with zero interest, or monthly installments with interest.
Apple hopes to use in-house technology for the four-installment plan, according to Bloomberg, while the company would continue to work with Goldman Sachs for its longer-term installment offering.
While Apple is working on developing its in-house technology platform to facilitate different facets of the fintech ecosystem, Bloomberg stressed that there are currently no plans for Apple to drop Green Dot, CoreCard, and Goldman Sachs as its partners for current products.