Apple and Goldman Sachs must pay more than $89 million over failures related to their joint Apple Card, federal financial regulators announced Wednesday.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said the companies provided inadequate customer service and misrepresented transactions and card features to hundreds of thousands of Apple Card users.
“Apple and Goldman Sachs illegally sidestepped their legal obligations for Apple Card borrowers,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. Big Tech companies and big Wall Street firms should not behave as if they are exempt from federal law.
The CFPB alleges that Apple failed to send tens of thousands of consumer disputes of transactions on their accounts to Goldman Sachs. When the tech company did share those reports with the investment bank, Goldman Sachs failed to follow federal requirements for investigating them, regulators said.
Both companies also misled consumers about interest-free payment plans for Apple devices, the CFPB found. That lead customers to believe that they would qualify for interest-free payment when they used an Apple Card to buy iPhones and other Apple devices, according to the agency.
Additionally, Goldman Sachs misled consumers about the application of some refunds, which led to their paying additional interest charges, the CFPB said.
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, Apple took issue with the CFPB’s assessment of its conduct, while saying it is “committed to providing consumers with fair and transparent financial products.”
“Upon learning about these inadvertent issues years ago, Apple worked closely with Goldman Sachs to quickly address them and help impacted customers,” the company added. “While we strongly disagree with the CFPB’s characterization of Apple’s conduct, we have aligned with them on an agreement. We look forward to continuing to deliver a great experience for our Apple Card customers.”
Goldman Sachs maintains that “Apple Card is one of the most consumer-friendly credit cards that has ever been offered,” a spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. “We worked diligently to address certain technological and operational challenges that we experienced after launch and have already handled them with impacted customers. We are pleased to have reached a resolution with the CFPB and are proud to have developed such an innovative and award-winning product alongside Apple.”
The order requires Apple to pay $25 million into the CFPB’s victims relief fund. Goldman Sachs must pay victims nearly $20 million, plus a $45 million civil penalty, according to the agency’s order.
Chopra also said it is banning Goldman from offering another credit card geared to consumers “unless it can demonstrate that it can actually follow the law.”
The tech giant teamed up with the bank to launch the Apple Card in 2019. It allowed Apple to increase sales and spending at its own retail stores, and helped establish Goldman Sachs as a major player in the consumer finance market.
In 2022, Goldman Sachs disclosed that the CFPB was investigating how it handled refunds and billing disputes.
