Goldman Sachs discloses expanded probe into its credit-card business

Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs said that investigations and inquiries into its credit-card business has expanded beyond the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to include other government agencies.

The bank, which has card tie-ups with Apple and General Motors, made the disclosure in a regulatory filing Friday. It had said last year that the CFPB is looking into its credit-card practices, including how it resolves incorrect bills and processes refunds. The probe also is examining advertisements and how Goldman credits "nonconforming payments" and reports information to credit bureaus.

The bank was cooperating with the investigation, a spokesman for the New York-based firm said in August. Bloomberg News reported in September that the bank was facing scrutiny from the Federal Reserve into its consumer business that went beyond its normal course-of-business review.

Goldman made a splashy entrance into the business in 2019 with the launch of the Apple Card, later adding the General Motors card business. Its credit-card balances climbed to $16 billion at the end of 2022, double the year-earlier amount.

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Even as Goldman has abandoned ambitions of dominating the consumer-banking market, it has elected to remain in the credit-card business. The bank has taken a more cautious approach to expansion in the sector, and hasn't added any new partnerships in more than a year.

—With assistance from Sridhar Natarajan and Jenny Surane.