Apple was close to creating an investing feature for the iPhone that would have allowed users to buy and sell stocks directly on the device. according to a CNBC report. The company reportedly began working on the investment feature during the meme stock hype in 2020, but ultimately abandoned the idea last year when markets began to falter.
Sources close to the situation told CNBC that Apple was working on the feature with Goldman Sachs, the financial institution with which Apple partnered to launch its credit card, buy now, pay later offering and savings account. While Apple and Goldman Sachs intended to launch the feature in 2022, Apple shelved the project, as CNBC reports that it “feared a backlash from users if people lost money in the stock market with the help of an Apple product.” .
That’s when Apple and Goldman Sachs decided to create a savings account, according to CNBC. Apple launched the savings account in April of this year, allowing Apple Card users to accumulate their Daily Cash rewards through the account, which has an annual percentage yield of 4.15. In June, a report from The Wall Street Journal suggested that Goldman Sachs was in talks to offload its partnership with Apple to American Express.
It’s still unclear whether Apple plans to implement an investing feature in the future, and Apple did not immediately respond. The edgeRequest for comments. If Apple had ended up launching a stock trading feature, it would have joined the ranks of apps like Robinhood, which has since faced scrutiny for its handling of the meme stock craze, along with more traditional trading services like Charles Schwab, E. -Commerce and Fidelity. In addition to Apple, PayPal and X (formerly Twitter) have also weighed the idea of stock trading services.
