Barclays’ takeover of the General Motors line of credit cards is another coup for the American subsidiary of the UK-based bank. Barclays is assuming the card business from Goldman Sachs.
Earlier this year, Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan made U.S. credit card expansion a priority, with a focus on co-branded partnerships. Starting next summer, Barclays will become the exclusive card issuer of the GM Rewards Mastercard and the GM Business Mastercard.
This partnership will expand Barclays’ credit card footprint in the U.S., which already includes other prominent brands such as American Airlines and Gap. Gap cards were particularly significant, as they marked the first time Barclays offered consumers a standalone private-label credit card that does not operate on an open-loop network like Visa or Mastercard.
Goldman had been managing the GM credit card program since 2022, allowing customers to earn points toward purchasing or leasing GM cars. Barclays had bid on the GM credit card program in 2020, but lost out to Goldman, which reportedly paid $2.5 billion to acquire the business from Capital One.
“The significance is that Barclays is buying the receivable from Goldman Sachs, which is unraveling their card business,” said Brian Riley, Director of Credit and Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research. “Meanwhile, Barclays is holding strong in the space.”
Headaches for Goldman
Goldman has reportedly been looking to offload its Apple Card business as well, with JP Morgan as the leading bidder. The partnership was established back in 2019, but “the Apple Card will be next to go,” said Riley.
According to Morningstar, Goldman’s Platform Solutions unit, which operated the GM credit card program, among other services, lost roughly $6 billion on a pretax basis from the beginning of 2020 through Q1 2024. In early 2023, Goldman scrapped plans for a direct-to-consumer card branded with its own name.
Last October, Goldman appeared to be exiting consumer lending for good. The bank sold off most of its personal loan portfolio and unloaded a BNPL lending business at a loss, just a year after acquiring it. Goldman also announced a buyer for its personal finance unit catering to the mass affluent, along with the sale of specialty lender GreenSky to Sixth Street Partners and a consortium of other firms.
