Apple on Apple Card penalty: “Offering fair and transparent financial services”
Apple has to pay 25 million US dollars because of customer service problems with its US credit card. Now comes a first statement.
The Apple Card is also available physically: If a retailer does not accept Apple Pay.
(Image: Apple)
Apple has commented on a multi-million dollar criminal case brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against the Apple Card product. The CFPB, the American supervisory authority for financial products aimed at end customers, had ordered Apple and its banking partner Goldman Sachs to pay a total of 89 million US dollars. Goldman Sachs must pay 19.3 million for damages and 45 million as a civil penalty, while Apple itself must pay 25 million dollars as a civil penalty. The incident involves tens of thousands of complaints from customers about incorrect direct debits and other disputes. According to the CFPB, Apple either did not forward these to Goldman Sachs or Goldman Sachs did not handle them in accordance with all federal regulations. The CFPB even prohibited Goldman Sachs from launching new credit card products until it was assured that the banking group was "complying with the law".
Apple Card for the "financial health" of customers
In a brief statement from Apple to the US media, it now says that Apple always strives to offer consumers fair and transparent financial products. The Apple Card is "one of the most customer-friendly credit cards available". It has been "specifically designed to support the financial health of users". The problems that the CFPB is now penalizing are "years" old and "inadvertent". It had therefore "worked closely with Goldman Sachs to resolve them quickly and help affected customers". Overall, Apple said it "strongly disagrees" with the CFPB's portrayal of its actions. Nevertheless, the company has decided to pay the fine. "We have reached an agreement [with the CFPB]. We now look forward to continuing to provide a great user experience for our Apple Card customers."
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In addition to the problems with resolving disputes over transactions, the CFPB had also accused Apple and Goldman Sachs of "misleading" customers about installment payments for iPhones and other Apple products. They had been offered interest-free loans, but these were not automatically set to interest-free if customers did not use Apple's own Safari browser online, for example. In addition, the offer was presented in a "confusing" way for customers. For example, "thousands of customers" had paid interest. There were also allegedly problems with "certain refunds" for purchases, as Goldman Sachs had two accounts for installment payments and regular credit card payments. This also led to unexpected interest payments. Apple did not comment on these details.
Goldman Sachs wants out of the business
It has long been known that Goldman Sachs is unhappy with the Apple Card. The company has repeatedly struggled with customer service problems, and the bank is also making losses in this segment. Other credit card products for end customers were also not launched or processed. However, as Apple has a long-term contract with Goldman Sachs, the partners remain bound to each other.
Another problem concerns internationalization. Despite the fact that the Apple Card has now been on the market for over five years, it only exists as a product in the USA so far. Goldman Sachs did intend to internationalize its private customer business and tried to penetrate the UK with its end customer brand "Marcus". However, Apple has not yet been taken on board here, and Goldman Sachs has now decided to halt its internationalization.
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